Lose yourself
by Nick Angel
Summary: It has been two weeks since Klaus and Stefan left town and everything seems quiet and settled again. But knowing Mystic Falls such a quite season can always be the quiet before the storm... Last chapter online!
1. Prologue

Hey everyone!

This is my first story on TVD. Hope you enjoy it!

As I`m coming from Germany I`m sorry about any grammar or spelling mistakes. But I just love the series and I thought that I`d try to write a story of my own.

Disclaimer: I don`t own anything. Sadly! ;)

The story starts about two weeks after the the final episode of season 2. Might be a little AU.

Please read and review!

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><p><em><strong>Lose yourself<strong>_

**Prologue **

It was Friday night and Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy and Tyler were lounging at the boarding house. They were waiting for Caroline as they all decided that a DVD marathon could be a welcomed distraction after all that happened. They were all gathered around lying on the couches, eating popcorn and drinking beer.

Klaus and Stefan had been gone for about two weeks now and nobody had a clue as to where to find them. Elena still being mad with his decision to leave wasn`t even close to considering why he left and why she had to find out about it from none other than Katherine. She felt betrayed and therefore pushed those thoughts concerning him as far away as possible. She needed a distraction, badly. Another reason why this night was called on.

„Where the hell is Caroline? She should have been here for at least half an hour!", Tyler started, concern clearly evident in his voice.

„We all know Caroline. Maybe she got held up because she noticed her shoes didn`t match her belt or something like that. I`m sure she will be here any minute.", Bonnie assured him. "I called her but she didn`t pick up. I left her a massage telling her to hurry up. I`m sure she`s busy searching for the perfect outfit."

„As sad as it is, that`s probably true.", Tyler supported her. „But aside from Caroline, has anybody seen Damon? We are meeting at his place, actually. So, is he gonna be here, too?"

„Actually, it`s my place.", Elena stated as a matter of fact. „But still, no. I haven`t heard or seen from him for almost two weeks. Since Stefan...", she trailed off.

"Did somebody actually tell him about tonight?", Jeremy asked.

Silence came up. Truth is that none of them kept in touch with Damon much as he seemed to retreat himself more and more since Stefan agreed to go with Klaus to save his life. Elena didn`t even knew where he was at the moment as he hadn`t been at the house for a long time. She knew that he had a hard time to deal with the past events himself but she just couldn`t deal with that at the moment. Damon was a constant reminder of Stefan leaving her behind so she was glad that she hadn`t been seen or heard from the older Salvatore brother for a while. But still she was a little bit worried about him. But he was Damon after all so therefore he would be back to his normal self in a short matter of time, she was sure of it.

"Come on, Care! Where are you?", Tyler exclaimed impatiently.

**Same time at the other end of Mystic Falls:**

She didn`t know why she came back here of all places. Maybe because she knew that Klaus was gone. Maybe because she liked the place. But maybe because she didn`t know where else to go. After hundreds of years of running and hiding she was sick of it. And here in Mystic Falls was at least a place where she could start a different approach on things. But in order to do that she needed to find Damon although she wasn`t really sure that he`d be extremely happy to see her again. But she was on a mission. She needed to get Stefan back. Even though finding Stefan meant finding Klaus, a fact that she absolutely wasn`t keen on but she just couldn`t let him be one of Klaus _minions_.

`_What he`d be doing at the moment?_´, she pondered. Well, that she would find out early enough. First of all, she was hungry. And the Grill would be exactly the right place where she could find something to eat or better say to drink.

Just at this moment the back door opened and someone walked out.

`_Hey, isn`t that the little friend of Caroline? What was his name again? Matt? Poor dear, that`s what I call `Being at the wrong place in the wrong time´._´she thought to herself as she began taking a step in his direction.

But she didn`t get far as she sensed something near her. Blood. She turned around and saw a figure lying on the street, shaking and trying to get away from something.

Normally Katherine wouldn`t have waited any longer to get to such an easy target and end it, but something was different this time. Something just wasn`t right. Something just didn`t _smell_ right. She knew that she knew the smell from somewhere. Knew that the scent of the blood was familiar to her but she just couldn`t place it. Slowly she took a few steps closer to the figure lying on the ground.

**Back at the boarding house:**

Still they were waiting for Caroline as suddenly the front door opened and slammed shut.

"There she is at last!", Tyler exclaimed.

"Why are you so sure it`s her?", Jeremy wanted to know.

"Well, I can smell her. Werwolf and all, you know.", he explained, grinning a little.

"You can smell her?", Bonnie asked.

"I can smell you all!", Tyler responded, smiling wickedly.

"Eww.", Bonnie shrieked slightly disgusted.

"Oh yeah. You should ask me just how disgusting it can be smelling every scent there is! Especially at school and the Grill. People just don`t behave as much as one would have thought!", Tyler shot, grinning even more. Earning a laugh from Jeremy encouraged him to go deeper into detail.

"Tyler, you are disgusting!", Elena said while standing up and walking over to welcome Caroline and seeing what took her so long to get from the door over to them.

But standing there leaning back on the front door wasn`t Caroline. Although still being covered by the shadows she could clearly make out Damon lurking there.

"Damon? What are you doing here? Did Caroline bring you along? By the way, where is she?", she asked him. Damon didn`t answer her and just stood still on his spot, not moving one tiny bit. Elena felt something was off. Something was very off!

"Damon? Are you okay?", she asked, her voice a little bit shaken.

Damon then pushed himself off from the door and took a few steps towards her, coming slowly into the light that came from the inside of the house.

**Back to Katherine:**

Taking a few more steps towards the person lying on the ground Katherine could slowly make out some details in the shadowed corner behind the Grill. Lying there was a girl. Blond hair. Bleeding. The smell of fresh blood grew more intense with every step closer and suddenly she knew exactly where she knew that scent from. She couldn`t believe it! Of every person there could be lying there on the street she wouldn`t have expected it to be her!

**Back at the boarding house:**

Stepping into the light Damon caused Elena to shrank back, a scream leaving her as she did so. The others being alert came over to her quickly, wanting to know what caused this.

"Elena? Are you okay? Damon? What`s going on? Why...", Bonnie trailed off as she got a closer look on Damon. There standing in front of them stood Damon, a look in his eyes that seemed kind of distant. But what caused them all to be shocked by his appearance was the fact that he was standing there covered in blood from head to toe. And by the looks of it not his own blood...

"Car... Caroli...", Damon began but couldn`t finish as he tumbled over and with one loud thud landed face first on the wooden floor, completely passed out.

**Back to Katherine:**

"Caroline?", she yelped "What the hell?" Lying in front of her was none other than Caroline Forbes, covered in her own blood and still bleeding...


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Several hours before:**_

Caroline arrived at school, happy to know that the weekend is only hours away. As much as she loved things being just normal, she still wasn't a big fan of school at all. It's not as if she wouldn't have good grades or disliked High School in general but with all the previous events that happened she had much more to concern about than tests, papers and the upcoming exams.

As she entered the halls and went for her locker she spotted Bonnie heavily making out with Jeremy against her locker. Who would have thought that they would be this happy after all the time Bonnie wasn't sure if she wanted them to be an item or not. But what do they say again? Shared experience weld you together.

She was happy to see them both so in love but still! Did they have to display it this heavy in school? And in front of _her_ locker?

"As I am a big fan of you two love birds, would you please be so kind and move a little bit to the left so I can get my stuff out of my locker?", Caroline addressed them both as she neared them.

"Oh, hey Caroline!", Bonnie exclaimed happily, shoving Jeremy off of her. `_Seems that I put them back into reality´, _Caroline thought to herself. Both of them looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car so Caroline had to surpress a laugh. Jeremy nodded to her while putting an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. "Hey Care, what's up?", he welcomed her.

"Well, not as much as with you two, it appears.", Caroline answered. She smiled at both of them and then went to her locker in order to get her books for the first lesson.

"Hey, Care. We thought that we all should to something together this evening! You know, having fun, drinking a little, like back in the old days!", Bonnie said to her.

Back in the old days... Oh, how she missed them. Everything was so easy back than. Her only worries had been what to wear and how to get into one of her favorite collages back then. But now she had to deal with witches, werwolves and vampires all around town either wanting to kill them all or at least annoy them at the very best.

"Of course! That's a great idea! What had you thought about?", she asked happily.

"Well, nothing much, just a simple get together. How about watching DVDs at Elena's place? The boarding house is at least big enough for all of us so we won't bother anyone."

"The boarding house? Is Elena still living over there?"

"Well,", Jeremy spoke up, "every time she stays over at our house she becomes depressed. She says that she can't deal with Jenna being gone and that she doesn't feel save there anymore. Even with Alaric living with us now she can't sleep through the night."

After Jenna's death two weeks ago Alaric became the new guardian to Elena and Jeremy. He knew how much both of them meant to Jenna and saw it as his responsibility to take care of them. But as much as he tried to be the best guardian he could he didn't get far concerning Elena. Elena liked him and all but he was an extra reminder to her of Jenna and although she wouldn't say it, she kind of felt responsible for her death. No matter how often any of them tried to talk to her about it, she would hear nothing about it and left as fast as possible.

Caroline knew that she spent most of her time over at the boarding house but thought that it would only be for a few days. After all the boarding house had to remind her of Stefan, hadn't it? And that was a topic which she avoided as well. But it was true that the boarding house would be the best location for this event.

"And who is participating till now?", Caroline wanted to know.

"Well, I called Elena already and she approved of the idea. We already got everything settled. It would just be you, Elena, Jeremy, Tyler and me."

_'Thank God she didn't mention Matt.', _Caroline thought. She hadn't told any of them of what happened between the two of them and that he practically wanted nothing to do with her anymore. It hurt her but it seemed the best that way. Knowing them all being together for a few hours there would be enough trouble coming along the way, especially when alcohol was involved. They would probably end up getting comfortable with Damon's stash due to what they would all be in trouble before tomorrow morning. Mentioning Damon...

"What's Damon saying to this?", Caroline asked. '_I can't believe that he wouldn't mind having a bunch of teenagers on alcohol roaming around.'_

"Elena said that she hadn't heard or seen him for almost two weeks now. Even Alaric hasn't been able to reach him. No one knows where he is.", Jeremy said.

"Is he still gone?" Caroline was surprised. '_Probably off to find Stefan. Or drowning his sorrows with very much scotch. Or both.', _she wondered.

"Yeah, he is. So there should be no problem concerning this evening.", Bonnie replied. "We already asked Tyler and he said yes. So, are you coming or are you coming?" Bonnie flashed a smile at her.

"Of course I will be there. How could I not? Although I _am_ a little bit hurt that you planned everything already without me...", Caroline pouted playfully.

"Come on, Care! This isn't the last get together or party happening. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to prove that you're the best party planner on earth!", Bonnie laughed and soon Caroline and Jeremy joined her.

"Hey, what's so happy? I wanna laugh, too.", they suddenly heard Tyler behind them.

"Nothing just that Bonnie and Elena planned tonight's events without involving Caroline.", Jeremy explained to him.

"Is hell freezing over already? A party attended by Caroline Forbes but not planned by Caroline Forbes? Shocking!", he joked. 

"That's really funny, you know that?", Caroline pouted again."You all know perfectly well that I am perfectly fine attending events which I didn't plan!"

"Yeah, but not without constantly complaining about the music, the colors, the setup and the whole thing itself!", Tyler mocked her.

"Come on, I'm not that bad!", Caroline complained

"Now you're not.", Elena supported her suddenly appearing in front of them. "I'm happy that you're all coming over. It gets so boring in this house! I'm sure we will all have a good time and will be absolutely wasted by tomorrow morning." Elena smiled after that. But still Caroline had a feeling that she said those lines more to convince herself than to tell the others.

"I don't know about you guys but I am planning on it! And I'm sure that Jer is, too. Right?", Tyler announced.

"You can count on it, Ty.", Jeremy declared.

"Now everybody, let's move. Class is about to start and I think that Alaric is gonna get us all in trouble if we all get late to his lesson again because we are again wasting time talking and having fun and not listening to him rant about history and about to sleep.", Bonnie told them and with that they moved along, happily chattering along the way.

Sometimes everything seemed normal. Sometimes they seem to be able to forget everything that happened around them and just live. They all have become close, probably due to the fact that they don't need to keep the secrets in front them as they have to keep in front of others. '_Lets hope it stays that way_', Caroline thought as they all entered Alaric's history class. _But still I wonder where Damon is..._

Curiosity got the best of her and as soon as she sat down at her table she got out her cell and sent a message to him. As happy as she was to be able to forget about vampires and him especially, Damon MIA was never a good sign and it creeped her out.

_'Damon, where are you?'_


	3. Chapter 2

**So, chapter 2 is out. Would you mind giving me some reviews, please? I would really appreciate that very much!**

**None the less I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I like actually writing it.**

**Have fun with the next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**Still several hours before:**

Somewhere in Kentucky:

He was wasted. Absolutely wasted actually. And he knew it. He had been drinking since God knows when and couldn't even hold himself straight on the bar stool anymore.

That was not the plan. His plan was to find Klaus, finish him off and drag Stefan's ass back to Mystic Falls. Back to where it belonged. Then everybody would be happy again and he could just be drinking again because he could, not because he didn't know how to handle the situation anymore. He didn't get that far. After a few days he arrived somewhere in Kentucky and that was it. Why Kentucky? He certainly had no idea. Well, perhaps it was because most brands of bourbon were actually produced in Kentucky. That would at least make _some_ kind of sense. And that was all he wanted right now. More bourbon.

He couldn't get over the fact that Stefan just went away. He should have stayed where he was, in Mystic Falls. But no, St. Stefan had to go all hero and sacrificing again and sealed a deal with Klaus to save his life. His live! The one he would actually like to get rid off at the moment. Elena didn't make it better with her action just to kiss him. And why did she do that? Because she thought he'd die! Out of pity! Nothing more.

And after Katherine had been there and she found out that he wouldn't die he could see it in her eyes. And he was reminded of the other person that looked that way at him once before: Katherine. He didn't need Elena to say anything after that so he sent her away. He knew exactly what she was gonna say. The same Katherine sad to him: "It was always Stefan."

Always Stefan. Katherine wanted him. Elena wanted him. Even Klaus wanted him! Why was he so freaking special anyway?

But that didn't matter. He was still his brother and he just had to get him back. No matter what. Unfortunately he didn't know where to find him. Another reason why drinking another glass of bourbon sounded so appealing to him right now.

As he took another gulp of his tumbler he suddenly heard a voice.

"Look who we have here. Damon Salvatore."

Damon almost spit out the bourbon recognizing that voice. Klaus! Turning around he saw him. He was standing right there in front of him now! He tried to grab him but due to his lack of balance only grabbed the air and almost tumbled over in doing so. He then grabbed onto a table near him to keep himself steady. Just now he recognized that no one but the two of them was left in the bar.

"What do you want? Where is Stefan?", he demanded to know.

"So many questions. Why don't you finish your drink before we talk about that? But by the looks of it you already finished enough earlier.", Klaus said amused.

"You don't want him! Let him go! I could be of better use than he ever will be!", he almost yelled at Klaus.

"Damon... You know why I chose Stefan upon you? Why I went for the saint instead of the devil? Well, for one: It pleasures me to break his faith, bit by bit.", Klaus explained while slowly circling him. "Secondly, he is more controlled and not such a mess like you are. I mean, look at you! You're so pathetic! Getting wasted because you can't deal with yourself. What is it with you, Damon? Is that remorse that drives you to do that or are you finally understanding that you are useless in comparison to your brother?"

"You know nothing about me! Not one single bit!"

"But Damon, I know so much about you. Always the second best, never the first choice. If it wouldn't have been for your brother you wouldn't even be a vampire now because you weren't worth to be chosen even then. And as I see you know, I can perfectly understand that. You're unstable, desperate, clearly overpowered by what life offers to you."

"I am gonna kill you, I ..."

"You aren't going to do anything to me.", broke Klaus him off. "You haven't got the power to do that. But you know what? I will kill you." With that he grinned at Damon who wished that he actually hadn't drank those few last 6 or better say 16 tumblers of bourbon.

"But before you do that I will give you a purpose for once in your pathetic life. I know about the doppelganger being still alive, you know."

"What?" Damon couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't know, could he?

"You heard me, Damon. I know about the little stunt Jonathan pulled. I must say, it impresses me. But I am not a person who likes to be fouled. First the witch and now the doppelganger. But don't worry, I won't hurt your precious little Elena." With that said he leaned close to Damon, whispering with a grin on his face: "At least not physically."

Damon had heard enough. He lunged at him and wanted only one thing. To whip that grin off of his face. But Klaus was faster than him and tackled him, sending him crashing into the wall behind him.

"You don't have to make it so hard on yourself. I won't hurt you right now." He said taking a step in his direction. But then Damon's cell phone went off which still lay next to the half empty tumbler on the counter.

"Interesting. Somebody still cares as much about you as to write you a message.", Klaus said as he took hold of it and opened the message. "Look, it's from Caroline. The blonde one, right? The one that actually should be sacrificed and would be if you hadn't been so stubbornly trying to destroy my plan. But then there was the other one. What was her name again? Jenna, right? Such a pity. But we all have a purpose in life. Even if it is just dying."

Damon couldn't control his anger anymore. "What do you want, Klaus? What is it? If you want to kill me then just get over with it!", he practically screamed at him.

"Desperate that much?", Klaus smiled again. "Excuse me, but I can't do that. You still have a purpose. As I said before I don't like to be played for a fool. Therefore I will take my revenge in taking everything from Elena that she holds dear. And guess who just set herself as number one in my list?", he asked while waving Damon's cell around, his smile never leaving his face.

"Don't you dare!" With that Damon lunged at him again but Klaus was again faster than him and send him crashing onto the cold hard floor.

"My dear Damon, I won't do anything to her. You are her sire so I believe that you have the right to do that.", he said, walking up to him and kneeling down beside him.

"What do you mean?", Damon wanted to know, still half laying on the floor but trying to get up again.

"Don't be afraid, you will know exactly what I mean in a very short amount of time. And I promise you that you will never forget it either as nothing you ever did consider 'cruel' would compare to the way I deal with things."

Then Klaus took his face in both of his hands and turned him to look at his face.

"And now look me in the eyes..."

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><p>And? What did you think of it? Like it? Hate it? Tell me! :) Please review!<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_He remembered running, running through the woods. It was dark. He knew that he didn't want to but he just had to run! He was almost through the forest as he saw Mystic Falls already appearing like a shimmer of light through some kind of misty fog. In a few seconds he ran out of the woods in an inhuman speed and stopped in the middle of the street directly behind it. _

_He listened for a while and concentrated on his surroundings. Somewhere distant he caught a voice:_

"_Yeah, mom. I'm on my way over to Elena now. No, nothing is wrong. No, I don't know when I'll get back. Mom…. Mom… MOM! It's not like I can die or something, you know!" with that Caroline ended the call and went somewhat grumpy along to her car. As it seemed to Damon she was totally obvious to him being there._

_He hid behind a few trees alongside the street and watched her movements. As she was about to open the door of her car, he called up to her. _

"_Caroline…" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. She stopped directly and looked around her. "Damon?"_

_She took a few steps into the direction she thought she had heard him._

"_Damon? Is that you? Come on, this isn't funny! Where are you! Are you alright?"_

_Somewhere deep down he wanted her to go away. Somewhere deep down he wanted to get away from her! But instead he stepped out of the shadows and onto the street, slowly but steadily walking over to her. _

"_Damon! It's really you! Where have you been? And why didn't you answer my message I send you this morning?"_

_But Damon didn't respond. His mind went blank as there were only a few steps left to cross the space between them. _

"_Damon? Are you drunk again?" Caroline took a few steps nearer and then suddenly stopped and looked up at him, clearly annoyed. "Come on, what is this? You wanna scare me or what?"_

_Then Damon spoke to her:_

"_I told you that I'd kill you."_

_Caroline laughed at him, hitting him playfully on his arm as he came to a direct stop in front of her. "You know what? I almost fell for that… NOT!" She laughed then. "Come on, Damon. I'm on my way over to the boarding house as we are all meeting over there for a little get together. I'm gonna drive you home."_

_She took hold on his left arm then and turned, trying to make him come with her. But he wouldn't move. _

"_Fine, then be that way! You know what? Being all messed up isn't the best situation in the world although you seem to make a lifestyle out of it! You should seriously consider changing it though, as we all are fed up with it!"_

_She turned around again and walked back to her car. _

"_Caroline…" Damon then whispered again. _

"_What?" Caroline yelled at him, clearly annoyed as she turned back to him but was shocked at what she saw. Damon's face had turned, his eyes dark black and his fangs clearly visible. "Damon?" Caroline asked more frightened then actually annoyed now._

"_You should run."_

_And shortly after that the screaming began and along with it came more and more blood…._

He then awoke with a startling scream and it took him a while that he was back in his room at the boarding house.

"Damon?" Suddenly Elena appeared next to him and gently laid a hand on his left arm. Then he heard yelling from outside the door, coming nearer every second. Both Elena and Damon now fixed there sight on the door.

"You can't go in there, Tyler!", Alaric was heard in s somewhat stern but shaken up tone.

"What do you mean I can't go in there?", Tyler screamed back. "I heard him scream, he's awake and I want to finally find out what the hell he did to Caroline!"

A little struggle then followed and shortly after the door flew open, revealing a very agitated and visibly angry Tyler Lockwood. "Where is he?", he barked at Elena.

"What do you mean, where is he? He is laying just…", she explained as she turned around and saw that his bed wasn't occupied any longer.

"Damnit!" she heard Tyler growl behind her. "He got away! We gotta find him!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey there. Here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it! **

**Thanks to fuckyeahjonas for reviewing! I'm happy to know that you really liked it so far and hope the next chapter won't change that. :) **

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

_And then you leave her there to die…_

Klaus voice was still ringing in his ears. He kept his promise till now, he didn't forget one little bit of what happened even though he wished he could.

He was running through the woods again. He just had to find the place where he left her. Left her to die…

Maybe he wasn't too late. Maybe she could still be saved_. 'Maybe… just maybe …'_ were his only thoughts keeping him running deep down into the woods, desperately trying to reach the place where he left her.

As he came close he could smell his doings of the night again. The thick scent of blood lingering in the air… he could even make out the faint layer of silver. How could he let this happen?

Then he found the place. It looked like a war had taken place. Everywhere was blood, almost 20 silver bullets on the ground, not even close the amount Klaus had him brought along. Broken wood lying around everywhere, the pile of ashes not far away…

But as he looked up on the tree on which he had strapped her, nothing was there. Except for the rope he used to restrain her. Hope came up. Maybe she had been able to get away. He didn't knew how she had managed to do that but her not being there just had to be a good sign!

"Caroline!" he screamed into the night. Nothing was heard. "Caroline!" He screamed louder this time. He knew that no one else would hear them as he brought them to a place far away from any civilization at all. But even if the whole police station would be situated right next to him now he wouldn't care. Police station… Oh God, the sheriff… Liz! What should he tell her? I'm sorry but I think that I might just killed your daughter? But perhaps she's still alive as she hadn't been on the tree I hung her up on? Yeah, right.

Memories came back to him. The still somewhat dark atmosphere only increased them. He could hear her screams, smell the burnt flesh, smell her fear… Hearing her begging him to come to his mind again. To stop torturing her. _"Just kill me already!"_ she had screamed at him even.

"What have I done…" he muttered to himself, falling on his knees. Then something else caught his eyes. Right next to him lay something. An earring. One of her earrings. Damon took it, cradling it in his hand. "What have I done..."  
>"That question I asked myself already more than once tonight, Damon." called a voice over to him.<p>

"Katherine?" he asked alert. Turning his head he could see her coming out of the shadows of the night. She came to a stop with some distance between them staring him cold in the eyes. "So, Damon. Answer me this question! What the hell did you do!" she yelled at him. Damon was taken aback by this. Never had he seen her even remotely close to being this… furious?

"I have seen your aftermaths of torturing people and even vampires before. I've tortured enough of them before as well! But this? Seriously, have you lost your freaking mind? I knew that you have some serious issues going on and that you hadn't exactly been a fan of her but even I wouldn't let something like this come upon my worst enemy!"

"Damon!" other voices rang through to them. The leading one was from Tyler Lockwood, who apparently just followed the smell as well. Shortly after hearing him for the first time he sprang out of the bushes and landed right in front of them. But due to the intensive smell all around him he held a hand up to cover his nose and took a look around. While taking in his surroundings he tried not to imagine what had happened here but failed miserably. He smelled Caroline all over the place and in combination with his imagination he struggled to get a few feet away again and hurled over.

Elena came next, Alaric, Bonnie and Jeremy right behind her. As they ran along the bushes Tyler just jumped through they came to a sudden halt as the air around them hit them full force.

"Damon! What is this?", Elena exclaimed as she looked around. "Is this blood? And are those silver bullets?"

"Damon, what the hell happened here?" Alaric demanded, seeming to be the only one being able to stand up straight.

"Come on, Damon. Tell them what happened here. What you did to poor Caroline." Katherine mocked him.

"Katherine?" Elena exclaimed.

"Caroline? What happened to Caroline?" Bonnie asked frightened; not really knowing what frightened her more: Katherine being right over there or the actual answer to her question.

"Now Damon! Won't you tell them already? After all it was your doing. And from the looks of it you had all the fun in the world!" Katherine snapped at him. But he couldn't tell them. He didn't want to believe that he even really did what he did. He just continued being down on his knees, his eyes turned away.

"Well, then I will be the one to tell them! Damon just tortured your little friend. And not just tortured but slaughtered her! He burnt her with fire, he hung her up on a tree with a rope soaked in vervain and shot her several times with silver bullets! And if that's not enough he jagged a stake through different parts of her body and then, being finished, he left her hanging on this tree for death to come to her! And if she actually lived to see the day she would have been burnt to ashes as he took her ring off!"

"What?" Bonnie and Jeremy cried out loud simultaneously.

"No, this can't be true! Damon!" Elena replied shocked.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Tyler reappeared running up to Damon, determination clearly visible in his eyes. As he almost reached him Alaric caught a good hold on him, holding him down for all that's worth it. "Jeremy! Help me!" He called out to Jeremy who came over to him, visibly shaking but still lending a hand to keep Tyler away from Damon.

"Now that you all know there is still a question I would like to get an answer to." Katherine continued, turning her attention back to Damon. "Why did you do this? What got you so enraged to actually pull a stunt like that?"

"It was Klaus..." was all Damon answered.

"What?" Now the yelling began.

"Klaus? Are you serious? He is here?"

"That guy that wanted to sacrifice Caroline and me and kill Elena?

"He killed Jenna! Where is he!"

"But he left off with Stefan! He got all he wanted! Why would he be behind this?"

"Stop it! All of you!" Elena yelled. As silence set in finally she turned back to Damon and asked him "You said Klaus was behind all this? But why? He got all he wanted! He went away! Why would he do this? But more important, where is Caroline?"

"She is fine and taken care off." Katherine suddenly said, gaining shocked expressions from everyone around her. "What, I may be heartless and cruel and everything but her appearance shocked even me! I couldn't just let her lie there. To that comes that I want to get down to the bottom of this as I might still have plans for her."

"So, you got her down from the tree? Where is she?" Damon demanded as he sprang up on his feet again, marching into her direction quickly.

"She is not to be found for you! I won't give you another chance to finish it where you left off!" She yelled at him, earning a deep growl coming from Damon. "But for you to know, I found her back in the town, near the Grill. Well, she must have more strength than what you actually gave her credit for when she got this far."

"This can't be true. We are far away from the Grill. She would have never been able to reach the Grill in her condition on her own!" Damon reasoned.

"That's not something of your concern anymore! Just know that she survived you and that I won't let you get near her anytime soon! And now, pray tell us, why would Klaus do that?"

"He does because he knows." Damon answered.

"Knows what?"

"Knows that Elena is still alive."

"What? But where does he know that from?" Jeremy exclaimed.

"I have no idea. He just said that he knew about it and that he is going to make us all suffer in order to take out his revenge. He feels being fooled." Damon explained, leaving the part that it all circled around Elena and that he planned to make her suffer. "And Caroline was only the beginning..."

"And you just jumped up in front of him offering to finish off Caroline, right? Wait till I get my hands on you!" Tyler yelled at him, struggling against the hold Alaric and Jeremy had on him.

"I had no choice. He compelled me..." he said, looking up at Katherine. Her eyes widened for a short moment, knowing exactly how impossible it was to come up against Klaus' compelling. "Take me to her, Katherine."

"No, I won't. All I wanted was an explanation and with that I'm out of here."

"Oh no, Katherine! We are not leaving Caroline with you!", Bonnie hissed at her.

"Why? At the moment she's saver with me as she obviously is with you!"

"But you were the reason she is a vampire now! And if I remember correctly you only turned her to sacrifice her yourself once!" Damon argued.

"What I did and what I do now is not of your concern, Damon. And believe me, you would be the last person she wants to see right now!" Katherine hissed at him. With that she turned around and sped away.

"We got to find Caroline!" Bonnie yelled alarmed. "Damon, have you any idea where Katherine could hold her? How could this even happen? How did he even find you, Dam..." she trailed off as she turned around, seeing nothing but thin air where Damon once stood.

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><p><strong>And? Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! :)<strong>


	6. Chapter 5

So, chapter 5 is finished. Isn't that great? :D

Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Katherine came to a halt directly in front of an old Victorian mansion, far away from the woods and far away from Mystic Falls. After a moment of just standing there she said "I thought I made myself clear to stay away, Damon."

"And since when do I listen to what you tell me?" Damon responded, now standing directly beside her.  
>"There once was a time where you did everything I said."<p>

"That was before I found out that you were nothing else than just a self-centered, egoistic and back-stabbing pain in the ass. Is she in there?"

"Since when do you care? And even if she is, you can't go in there." Katherine said while walking to the mansion, opening the front door and moving in.

"I can go anywhere I want to." he said and with that sped off after her but found out that he couldn't enter.

"Someone lives here?" he asked astonished.

"Oh, Miss Katherine. You're back again." a voice came from inside and shortly after on old woman appeared behind Katherine. "And who is this? Is this a friend of yours?" she asked, turning to look at Katherine.

"No, Getty, he isn't. Just a shadow of a man I once called an acquaintance. Under no circumstances is he allowed inside and you won't set one foot out of the house, is that clear?" Katherine commanded while fixing her eyes on Getty's ones.

"But of course, Miss Katherine. I won't invite him in and I won't leave the house."

"Good. Getty. Now why won't you go back into the study and find information on the subject I told you about?"

"But of course, Miss Katherine. I'm on my way." With that she left both of them alone again.

"What subject? Katherine, what are you planning?"

"As I said before, that's not of your concern. And now leave!" she said, turning her gaze back to him.

"Not before I see Caroline." he argued.

"She won't want to see you."

"I'd like to see that for myself."

"What do you think? That she will be happy to see you? That she would even want to leave with you? Have you any idea how long it took to get every bullet out of her body? How long it took to just calm her down? As I said before, you would be the last person she'd want to see right now." Katherine told him and closed the door, leaving Damon there all by himself.

_'I have to find a way in there! But with this Getty running around this won't be possible.' _he thought to himself.

But then he heard a noise. As he followed it he rounded the house and saw a balcony lightened by the light coming from the attached room. And he heard the noise again. Crying. Caroline crying. In one swift move he jumped up and landed in front of the open balcony doors but shocked as he took in the sight in front of him. There sitting on an old bed sat Caroline, crying her heart out. She had her back to him so she didn't see him standing there. He could clearly see what his action caused. The ripped backside of her shirt and the blood covering it in some places spoke for itself.

"How could he do this to me!" she cried to herself. Obvious

Without really thinking about it Damon took a few steps forward only to be held by the invisible border which kept him from entering. Just now he realized his movements and mentally cursed himself for not even noticing it. But someone else did.

"Damon!" Caroline cried and starred at him. Her eyes wide with pure horror she jumped off of the bed and now stood directly across from him.

"Caroline, listen. I know I..."

"How could you do this to me?" The horror in her eyes was replaced with pure rage as she stepped up to him and just stopped directly in front of him though still on the inside of the room. "Why did you to that to me?" she screamed at him, hot tears running down her eyes.

" Caroline, I... "

"What are you doing here? You wanna finish what you started?" she accused him.

"No, Caroline. Listen, I ..."

"No, I won't listen to you! You didn't listen to me once tonight! You didn't listen as I begged you to stop! You didn't listen as I begged you to let me go! So why should I listen to you now?" she cried, anger clearly visible in her voice.

"I..." Damon started again.

"Leave, Damon! Just leave! I don't want to see you ever again! Now get the hell out of here before I make you!"

"Caroline! Would you just hear me out! I..." but he didn't finish his sentence as in one swift move Caroline lunged at him what caused him to fall back and over the railing. With one thud he landed down on the ground, hearing her slamming the balcony doors shut.

**Meanwhile at the boarding house:**

Elena and Bonnie just arrived back at the house, no one saying a word. Tyler, Jeremy and Alaric didn't come with them as they tried to go after Damon.

"We shouldn't let Caroline stay with this Katherine. We got to save her!" Bonnie said.

"I know and we will! The guys are out searching for her. But at the moment we can't do anything." Elena responded weakly.

"Maybe we could do something! I could try to track her down with a spell!"  
>"You can do that?"<p>

"Yes! I just need something that belongs to Caroline! Do you know if there's anything that she maybe left here?"

"Well, I have an old cardigan that she gave me once. Would this maybe help?"

As Bonnie nodded Elena moved to get it but then stopped dead in her tracks. There was this one question that she had in mind as soon as she found out that Klaus knew about her being alive and it haunted her.

"Bonnie?" she called her over.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Well, I don't know but do you think that maybe Stefan told Klaus about me being ..." she started but trailed off shortly after.

Bonnie sighed and gave her an understanding smile.  
>"I don't think that Stefan would do that. Even with him going away with Klaus I can't imagine him telling on you. He loves you!" Bonnie tried.<p>

"But he has been gone for two weeks now and no one heard anything from him! I haven't heard anything from him! Maybe he isn't the same anymore. Maybe he doesn't care about us anymore. Maybe he doesn't care about me anymore..."

"Elena! Okay, I wasn't a supporter of Stefan for a very long time as he still is a vampire. But after I got to know him I realized one thing. He loves you, Elena, and he would give his life trying to protect you! And not even Klaus is gonna change this. Just have faith in him."

"But I miss him, Bonnie." Elena said in tears. Although she tried to keep herself together the last two weeks of questioning herself and drowning in misery got up to her. She knew that he left to save Damon. She knew that he loves her. But still it wasn't fair in her eyes. She deserved to be happy and not to be constantly ripped of the persons being close to her! Why couldn't she have a normal life for once!

Bonnie then embraced her and tried to calm her, speaking reassuring words to her.

"How could he leave me!"

**Back to the mansion:**

Caroline paces back and forth. _How dare he showed up here! What had he wanted anyway? To see what he achieved? Or did he want to end what he started and finish me for good? _All those thoughts circled around in her head.

"Caroline..."

Shocked she turned around to find nothing. _Didn't I just hear someone calling my name?_ "Caroline..." _There again! But no one's here! But I know that voice from somewhere. _"I know you can hear me..." I_ heard this voice before. But where? The woods! After Damon left it was there! There was someone! But who?_

"Caroline..." it called again, still no one to be found.

"Hello? Who is there? And where are you?" she called out, wondering clueless around the room.

**Same time in another room down by the lobby:**

Katherine didn't really knew why she saved this girl. She felt kind of bad for her. Who would have thought that after over 500 years such a feeling would come over her again! And it was true what Damon said. She wanted to sacrifice her once, too. So, why this? She could have just leave her there on the street and be done with it. But still, something about this whole situation just wasn't right. She knew that Damon could be ruthless but never before to this extend. Something's happening and she just had to find out about it. And with Klaus being a part of it all she had to find out before it maybe even killed her. Even though he let her go, he wasn't finished with her, not even close. She knew that for sure. But what could be his plan?

"Hello? Who is there? And where are you?" she heard from above. Caroline? What's she going on about? Is someone up there with her? But it couldn't be as she sensed no one else but her and Getty around. She became suspicious and made her way to the staircase leading up to the floor on which Caroline's room was situated.

**Back to Caroline:**

"You know what I told you, Caroline." she heard the voice speaking clearly to her. Like it spoke directly to her mind. A terrible feeling came up and she felt that she slowly lost control over herself. _What's happening to me?_

"And now come to me." the voice ordered and with that her mind went blank.

**Back to Katherine:**

"Caroline? Is everything alright in there?" she asked as she approached the room. Not receiving an answer she called her name again but nothing could be heard from the inside.

Even more suspicious she turned the handle and opened the door. But stepping inside she only found an room empty, the balcony doors standing wide open. No sign of Caroline.

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><p>So, where is Caroline off to? And who called her? And what does Katherine want to get information about? Is Elena going to be happy again? What about Stefan?<p>

Well, stay tuned! ;)


	7. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in such a long time. But studying sometimes eats up more time than one could imagine. :P

Well, that's the next chapter. Hope you like it! Chapter 7 will follow soon, promise! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"Could you find her, Bonnie?" Elena asked her friend. They were still in the parlor of the boarding house and Bonnie had tried various rituals already.

I don't know why but I can't seem to be able to track her down! I've tried everything I could think of. Why isn't it working?" Bonnie responded angry.

"Because you can only track down living humans. And as we all know perfectly well, Caroline isn't exactly living anymore."

"Damon!" both girls yelped as they didn't hear him approach them.

"The one and only." he responded clearly drunk. He was standing there right in front of them suddenly, more or less steadily.

"Are you drunk?" Elena asked him.

"What gives you the impression?" he replied careless while marching over to the liquor stash, filling himself a tumbler with his favorite bourbon.

"Where have you been? And what have you done?" Elena demanded angrily.

"Away. And I've been far more productive that both of you as I know perfectly where to find your precious little cheerleader."

"You know where she is?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"Yep, I found her."

"Tell us where she is!"

"Why would I? And believe me she wouldn't want to go with either of you as..." Damon began but couldn't finish as his head began to hurt as if it would implode.

"Where is she! You will tell us, Damon!", Bonnie demanded while concentrating on him completely.

"She's... She.. She's with... Katherine!" he stuttered while kneeling on the floor and holding his head in both of his hands.

"With Katherine?" Elena wondered.

"Where do we find her?" Alaric suddenly asked. Elena turned around and noticed that he and the others were standing in the doorway.

"You will bring us there, is that clear?" Bonnie commanded.

"She won't come..." he began but Bonnie interrupted him "I told you to bring us there! So?"

The pain in his head increased even more and he had no other choice to say yes to her. Shortly after that the pain stopped and relief washed over him.

"Did Bonnie do that?" Tyler asked astonished to which the young witch only nodded. "You know, I think you shouldn't have stopped doing it. He deserves it."

"And you deserve to be shut up by somebody!" Damon threw back to him.

"Yeah? And by whom? By you? I'd like to see you try!" "Don't get yourself into something that you can't handle me, Wolf!"

"Guys, stop that!" Alric spoke up while stepping in between the two. "We got to find Caroline. That's the only thing that's important by now!"

"Where is she?" Katherine suddenly yelled from behind them all. She was standing in the doorway, looking outraged.  
>"Katherine?" Alaric exclaimed slightly astonished. But Katherine didn't even seem to notice him as she fixed her glare on Damon. "You were there and now she is gone! So what did you do to her and where is Caroline, Damon?"<p>

**Somewhere far away:**

"Where am I?" Caroline asked herself. The last thing she remembered was being back at the mansion and hearing this voice calling out for her and now she found herself in the middle of nowhere. She was standing on a path surrounded by fields as wide as she could see.

_How did I get here?_

"Hello Caroline. Finally we get to meet." someone said behind her.

She turned around to find a guy standing in front of her. He was tall, well build and had striking blue but cold eyes. Actually he looked kind of appealing but something in his attire made Caroline want to get as far away from him as possible.

"Who are you?"

"Please, excuse me. Where are my manners? My name is Klaus. I believe you have heard about me already."

_Klaus? Oh no! _

Caroline took a few steps back, trying to figure out a way out of this situation as fast as possible.  
>"Don't be afraid of me, my dear. We have so much to talk about" he told her and flashed an evil grin at her.<p>

With that being said Caroline turned around as quickly as she could and made a run for it. After a few minutes she came to a stop and took a look around. No sign of him.

_Did I outrace him?_

"Why did you run away, my dear? I just wanted to talk to you." he suddenly spoke up as he stood right behind her. Shocked and afraid Caroline wanted to run again but she didn't get far as Klaus quickly took hold of her arm and yanked her to him forcefully. "That is not very polite to leave someone while he is in the middle of introducing himself properly, little one." he told her.

"What do you want from me?" Caroline yelped terrified.

"I will tell you anything you want to know but no running anymore. Is that understood?"

Caroline only nodded, to terrified to speak. Klaus then loosened his grip on her arm a little which Caroline used to break free completely and race off again. Even as she knew that it was probably useless to even try she just had to. But suddenly she felt something strike her left leg which caused her to lose control and landed face first on the ground.  
>"Didn't I make myself clear?" She heard him say above her. Then he gripped her neck hard from behind and felt herself being lifted up. As she came into a standing position he let go of her but quickly took hold of both of her arms and turned her to face him. Then his right hand lifted her chin so that Caroline had no chance but to look him straight into his eyes. "You won't run from me." he told her and Caroline heard herself repeat it to him. As he let her go then she just stood there, somehow not being able to move even the slightest. "And now we will talk a little."<p>

"What do you want?" Caroline demanded.

"Why so rude? If I remember correctly I haven't given you any course to be so hostile."

"No course? You wanted to kill me along with my best friend!"

"That was then. As as the old saying goes, we shouldn't always live in the past and make a new start. And I already proved to you that I'm not wanting to see you dead anymore."

_What?_

Caroline couldn't believe her ears. "What did you prove?" She responded irritated.

"Don't you remember? The last time we saw one another I actually saved you."

_The last time? He saved me? What the hell is he talking about?_

"And now I have something to give back to you. You lost it somehow and I found it only shortly after." With that he took something out of his jacket and gave it to her. It was a handkerchief in which something was wrapped up. As she unwrapped it she found her ring.

"But... You!" she remembered suddenly. "You were there! You were the one that got me down from that tree!"

"And the one that brought you away from there." he informed her.

"But why?" Caroline was visibly confused by now. He really saved her! But why? Why would he do that?

"As I said before, I will tell you everything in a short while." And with that being sad, he took her chin into his right hand again and looked her straight in the eyes. "And now you will listen to me..."

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><p>You like it? Tell me! :D<p> 


	8. Chapter 7

As I promised, here's Chapter 7. Hope you like it. :)

Would you please review it? I would really appreciate that! Thanks! :D

**Chapter 7**

It has been three weeks since Caroline has been gone. They had no idea where to find them after they searched everywhere they could think of. Although Damon wouldn't admit it but it made him furious. First Stefan and now Caroline! And mostly because he knew Klaus planned something but he had no idea what.

To that comes that the situation has become more complicated by now. He could explain Stefan being gone telling everyone that he transferred to California, living with an aunt. Not the best idea to come up with but it worked. But with Caroline it has been a whole different story. Officially she moved to her dad for some time but people were asking questions as it seemed unlikely that she has been there for this long in general, not to mention with graduation coming up in less than a month. Liz had been freaking out as she was told what had happened and has been worried sick ever since. Elena and the others were devastated by now and Bonnie has given him numerous aneurisms for the last three weeks only to make her anger visible, clearly seeing him as the course of everything that happened. And in fact he was at least in some ways responsible. That's what annoyed him the most.

To that comes that today the next Miss Mystic Falls was to be crowned. **(A/N: Please, just go with me, here! :D) **Carol Lockwood was freaking out because the former Miss Mystic Falls, Caroline, was supposed to hand over the crown to her as well as Caroline had agreed to help organizing everything before her mysterious departure. And as he was still a member of the council he fell victim to her constant bickering about how everything was so stressful for her and how everything didn't work out as she had imagined it herself. Speaking about pathetic.

At the moment he was over at the Gilbert house trying to decide what to do next with Alaric, Jeremy and Katherine. He still couldn't believe that she was actually here trying to help. He didn't know why but as she didn't really seem to be scheming something and as had been useful to some point already he tolerated her being there. Still everyone was sceptical as she was the most unlikely ally to be thought of. But thanks to her they at least found out that Klaus had been behind Caroline's sudden departure.

"So, anyone got another idea?" Alaric asked no one in particular. Silence followed. They had no idea what was left to even attempt to try but at least trying anything gave them a better feeling than just waiting for Klaus' next move.  
>In that moment Damon's cell went off. He got it out of his pocket and without looking at the number he took the call. "Yeah?"<p>

"Hello, Damon. How are you?"

Damon froze. Klaus! Katherine slipped her cup of coffee out of her hand as she heard his voice too, thanks to her vampire hearing. It shattered on the ground and got everyone's attention.

"Tell Katerina that coffee is too precious to be wasted by breaking the cup." At this Katherine turned took off, searching around the house for any signs of him or possible spies. "And tell her that it's no use trying to find something where nothing is to be found." And to that he laughed. Katherine came back to them and began to pace around nervously.  
>"Where are you?" Damon demanded.<br>"Wouldn't you like to know that? Believe me, I'm nearer than you would like me to. But don't be impatient, we will see each other again in only a short while."  
>"Where is Caroline?"<p>

"She is right here with me, actually. You know, I really don't understand how you wanted to kill her after you found out about her transition. She has so much potential! And in case you're wondering she told me. She told me so much..."

"What did you do to her, Klaus?" Damon demanded angrily.

"Showing her what it means to be a vampire. She has clearly changed since the last time you saw her. But who wouldn't after what had happened..."

"Why did you made me torture her then?"

"Because I have a plan. And this plan will lead to your downfall as well as everyone else. And the ironic part is that the one new vampire you sired will play a leading role in that."

"What do you mean? What are you planning?"

"Why would I tell you that? Seriously, where would be the fun in that? There is no need to try and figure it out as you will not be able to actually put a stop to my plan. You should actually try to focus on the festival today.

"What about it?"

"As I believe the next Miss Mystic Falls will be crowned and as Caroline has been the former Miss it would be a shame if she wouldn't attend. But I do not believe that it will turn out to be such a joyful festival as last year."

"She will be there?" Everyone in the room looked at him with a mixture of confusion and slight panic.

"She will. And you should see her. She looks so wonderful in her dress for the evening. No one would believe what she is capable of." And he laughed again and then Klaus ended the call.

"What was that about? Caroline is here?" Alaric asked.

"Did you get the number so we could track back the call?" Jeremy wanted to know.

"No number displayed." Damon answered after checking his phone.

"We have to go to the festival!" Katherine ordered.

"It already started over at the Lockwood mansion. Elena and Bonnie are over there as they promised to help Carol with the work." Jeremy informed them.

"Katherine is right. Jeremy, you call Elena and tell her about the call and to keep Bonnie and the wolf close to her! Katherine you can't go over to the house as people will start to notice two Elena's being there after a while. But you will be somewhere near the mansion, looking out for any vampires nearing the place. Alaric, you are taking Jeremy and Katherine over there. I'll meet you there in a while." he told them. "I'm going to call Liz."

With that Alaric, Jeremy and Katherine ran out of the house and after sighing loud Damon made a call to Liz.

**Same time at the Lockwood mansion:**

"You know, I can't believe that she would stay with her father that long! Okay, they have a good connection but still! The finals are coming up and everything! An important football game is taking place next week and the cheerleaders are ripping there heads off of each other fighting over who is becoming the next head cheerleader!"

"Tell me about it. I took her spot as long as Caroline is away and it ain't pretty." Bonnie replied, already annoyed with listening to Matt rambling speech. Although Matt knew about Caroline being a vampire by now they agreed on not telling him more than necessary.

"But what worries me the most is that she won't answer her phone! I tried to reach her at least a dozen times but she won't return any of my calls! I knew we haven't had the best relation before she left but still! Why? You have to know something, Bonnie! Is she trying to avoid me? Is she still mad at me or why won't she call me back?"

_'She won't call because she doesn't even have her phone.'_ she thought to herself. They found her phone and everything lying on the street near her car on the day after she left.

"I talked to her yesterday and believe me, she will call you back when she has the time. She has so much to do up there but she's fine." _'At least I hope so.'_

"Bonnie!" Elena called out as she ran over to her. "I have to talk to you!"

"Sorry, Matt, but could you give us some time?" Bonnie asked him, slightly hoping he would just go away. He had been going on and on for over half an hour now and Bonnie was just sick of it.

"Hey Elena, yeah, of course. But please tell Caroline to call me when you reach her the next time, okay?"

"I will, trust me." Matt smiled slightly to that and then turned around and left them.

"Elena, thank you so much! Another minute listening to him and I would have died!"

"Bonnie, you won't believe..." Elena began but Bonnie interrupted her "Please don't tell me Carol send you over as she probably had another fit about the flowers being to bright or the crown being to bad replicated or another absolutely unnecessary detail being not perfect enough!" The whole day Carol had ordered them around, changing her opinion on things every 10 minutes.

"Guys, we have a problem!" Tyler suddenly came over to them looking slightly terrified.

**Back with Damon:**

"Liz here?" Liz answered her phone.

"Yeah, hi Liz. Damon here. Look, I've to tell you something. It's about Caroline."

"Caroline? Yes, I know! It's such a surprise that she is back again, isn't it?"  
>Damon froze. "What do you mean, Liz?"<br>"She just returned this morning! She told me that she couldn't let the Miss Mystic Falls competition take place without her and her dad agreed to it. That's why she's back so early and not staying over there for another minute."  
>"Liz, what are you talking about? She hasn't been staying with her dad!"<p>

"But of course she has! Damon, what are you saying?"

_Caroline arrived this morning? Staying with her dad? Liz sounded so convinced! Did Caroline compel her?' _he wondered.

"Liz, where is she now?"

"She's been gone for about an hour now. She wanted to meet up with Carol Lockwood and help her with the last settings. She said that she would be there the rest of the day. You know, as I'm the sheriff I should be there, too, but Caroline said that I shouldn't be there. So I'm staying at home. She said that Carol wouldn't need me today. I don't really know why actually..." and her voice trailed off.

**Back at the Lockwood mansion:**

"What is it, Tyler? Does your mother thinks that the replica of the crown isn't shining enough?" Bonnie asked, clearly annoyed by now.

"Actually, there isn't a problem with the crown anymore. Mum has the original."

"What? Did Liz bring it over?"

"Bonnie! Would you please listen to me? Jeremy just called!" Elena cried out loud.

"Jeremy?" Bonnie turned to her. "What did he want? Is it about tonight?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have to listen to me first!" Tyler told them. "Liz didn't bring it over. Care did."

I'll end it here. In the next part Caroline will be taking part again as well as somebody else that was desperately missed. You know who? :D

Please review and tell me what you think of the story!


	9. Chapter 8

Another chapter updated. And I'm literally begging you to review it by now! Please? I'd just like to know what you think of the story so far. Thanks a lot! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Damon entered the Lockwood mansion through the main door, looking out for Elena and the others. He spotted them in the next room and wanted to go over to them as Carol walked in his way suddenly.

"Damon, it's good to see you." she smiled at him.

"Carol, always a pleasure. I would love to chat a little with you but I am in a hurry at the moment. Maybe later." he responded, walking away from her.

"Yes, I know. Caroline mentioned that already." Damon froze. He turned around to face her again.

"Caroline mentioned what?"

"Caroline mentioned that you wouldn't have much time due to a mysterious big event that would be taking place today."

"What do you mean?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I promised Caroline that I wouldn't tell that she told me already. It's so nice of you that you two planned a surprise for everyone here!"

"What did she tell you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Carol looked at him puzzled.

"Well, she came over to me to hand over the crown. She apologized that she couldn't be back in Mystic Falls earlier in order to help with the settings. But she told me that she planned something out for today and that you would be a part of that." she explained.

"Really. Did she say anything more?"

"Well, only that it would be such a big surprise that it would be remembered a long time afterwards."

"Mrs. Lockwood?" A server called her from the other side of the room and she excused herself from Damon and left to speak with him. After standing there for a few more minutes, trying to wrap his mind about what she just said, he turned around and went straight to Elena and the others.

"We are leaving. Now!" he ordered as soon as he reached them.

* * *

><p><strong>Not too far from the Lockwood mansion:<strong>

Up on a hill with a good view of the location Katherine stood and watched out for any sings of supernatural activities. If someone told her that she would actually be in such a situation and working together with Damon, Elena, her brother, the witch, the werewolf and the teacher she would have a good laugh about it. Klaus being an actual danger again got her to almost leaving as soon as she found out that he was behind Damon's behavior and Caroline's leaving. But she had enough. She was tired of running from him. She run from him even before she was turned and this had to be stopped, no matter the consequences. Even if he really killed her at the end of it all, the hiding and running for her life would finally come to an end. Not that she wanted to be finished off for good but it was better than continuing her life becoming more paranoid than she already was. And maybe, just maybe, she could help getting Stefan out of his clutches. She tried not to think of where he would be or what Klaus would made him to but she couldn't. She had been true when she said that it was always Stefan. And just thinking about how Klaus would break him little by little was nudging her a great deal actually. Although she wouldn't admit it to anyone else she not only wanted him to be with her again, no, she loved him. And if it hadn't been for Klaus she would have him by her side long before he ever laid eyes on her great great somewhat grand daughter. Okay, she wouldn't want Elena death at all, another thing she wouldn't admit if asked, as she meant some kind of family but seeing her have her Stefan was killing her inside.

She closed her eyes, imagining he was right there with her at this moment, up on this hill. She imagined what he would look like and what he would say, telling her that it was always her and not Elena. She could almost smell his scent …

She did smell his scent! Shocked she opened her eyes wide and yanked around. There he was! Stefan! Right in front of her! Shocked she could do nothing more than gape at him.

"Hello Katherine..."

* * *

><p><strong>Back in the Lockwood mansion:<strong>

Damon and Alaric ushered the group out of the backdoor, back to Alaric's car waiting for them in the drive way.

"Damon, I can't go! I need to get my mum out of here!" Tyler rejected him. "She's all I have left!" he explained with a worried look in his eyes.

"Get out, Wolfboy, and get in the car!" Damon ordered him.

"No, I can't ..." Tyler began again.

"I will take care of your mum, trust me." Damon told him then. After exchanging a meaningful look with him and Alaric, he nodded and left behind Elena and the others. Alaric looked at Damon, nodded as well and left, too.

Damon then turned around and searched for Carol. But while crossing a room he noticed a scent that he only knew too well. He came to a halt clearly feeling another presence in the room. It was her. It was Caroline.

"Damon." She spoke up while she moved around, now coming face to face with him. He took in her appearance. There she stood in all her glory, her dress was gorgeous and she proved that she deserved the title of Miss Mystic Falls previously. But her eyes missed the joyful expression and were just empty and cold.

"Caroline. What's going on?"

"Wouldn't you like to know that?" she flashed him a cocky smile. "I can clearly remember the last time I'd been here. Hoping that I'd become Miss Mystic Falls although I was convinced that Elena would win the pageant with her said story about her dead parents and stuff. I was so happy as my name has been called up. Only now I see what a pathetic occasion this whole thing was and still is. You know, you were right when you called me stupid, shallow and useless back then. And you weren't the only one thinking that about me. But that was then and believe it or not, I'm not the same anymore. And now I'm here to prove it."

"What do you mean 'to prove it?" Damon demanded sceptically.

"Klaus showed me what I can achieve now that I am a vampire. He showed me the extend of my powers and gave me this chance. Once this is all over they will be sorry to have laughed about me and not taking me for what I really was. Nothing I did was good enough for all of them to finally see me as a reasonable person and to take me seriously. I was always second to Elena, no matter how much better I'd been. For everyone! For Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, you! And I was second to Jules for Tyler! But that's over. I won't let anybody take my rightful spot anymore and it starts now. In only a short while all of this pathetic human beings will be nothing more than what they are. A walking meal to us vampires. But not without terrifying them just a little bit for fun."

"Caroline, you don't have to do this."

"You think so, Damon?" She asked him while narrowing her eyes and circling him.

" You don't want to do this. Klaus only..."

"But I want to do this."

"No, you don't. Klaus compelled you! Just think about your friends! You wouldn't want them to be hurt!"

To that Caroline laughed. "Don't want them to be heard? Well, have you any idea off how often they have hurt me? But as we now speak about my 'friends'... You didn't really believe that they would be able to make it out of here unharmed, did you?" And with that a cruel smile graced her face.

"Jeremy!" Elena's scream could be heard from outside. Damon wanted to race out over to them but felt himself being thrown across the room, hitting two very large and very heavy bookcases on the opposite wall. They broke down and shattered while he landed on the hard floor, some of his bones clearly broken.  
><em>'What the hell!'<em> he thought, willing the pain to go away.

"Poor Damon, did you get hurt?" he heard Caroline's voice mocking him. She laughed then and he opened his eyes to find her standing right above him.

"Sleep well." She said and them rammed a syringe into his chest. Damon felt himself losing consciousness soon afterwards. He tried to fight it off but eventually lost a few moments later.

**End of Chapter 8**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jeremy awoke with the a start finding himself chained up to a wall. His hands were chained together above his head were they were held up by some stone rings as it appeared to him. He couldn't make out much of his surroundings as it was mostly dark and only a few rays of light illuminated the place. He figured that he must be in some kind of under-croft. A big and heavy looking oak door was opposite him.

_'What happened? Is this some kind of cell?'_ He wondered. The last thing he remembered was climbing into Alaric's car and nothing else. His head was throbbing so it seemed possible to him that he'd been hit over with something pretty hard.

_'How long have I been out? And where am I?But more important, how do I get out of here?'_

He began to move his arms down but found that the chains wouldn't give away much space at all. He tried to move his arms more forcefully to loosen them some more but didn't success at all.  
>"It's not gonna work, ya know?"<p>

He yanked his head into the direction of the voice and saw Vicky standing just a few feet away from him. As he'd seen her ghost the first time shortly after Jenna's funeral he'd been shocked to the bone, to say the least. He'd seen Anna as well back then. But as it had only happened once and just for a few seconds he thought that he'd only imagined it. Thought that he was still too shaken up by Jenna's death that he was making up things. But now Vicky was standing in front of him again, looking well and lively as always. "Vicky?" he yelped incredibly.

"Yeah, it's me. Long time no see, eh?" to that she smiled slightly.

"But... But... you're dead!" he stuttered.  
>"Well, I kind of am, actually."<p>

"But... so... you're a ghost?"

"You certainly looked like you saw one the last time I appeared." she joked.

"Am I dead, too?" he asked slightly frightened.  
>"No, you're not. Well, at least for now."<p>

"So, Anna is a ghost, too?"

"Yeah, it seems so. Though I still can't believe what you saw in her! In comparison to me she's..."

"Vicky! Please, what's going on?"

"Well, I don't really know myself. The last thing I remembered was Stefan killing me and then suddenly I was back in Mystic Falls as if nothing had happened. But no one could see me and I couldn't touch something. I walked through the city for some time and somehow ended up at your house. I hoped that maybe you could see me. And then you really did!" She looked him in the eyes for a moment and then shook her head suddenly. After taking a long not needed breath she continued.

"Seems like this really old vampire isn't one of your fans at all. You all were attacked shortly after leaving the mansion. You've been brought here about 4 hours ago."

"Where are the others?"

"They are in other cells, similar to this one." "Is everyone alright?" "Well, badly bruised but still living would be the best way to describe their conditions." "Can you get me out of here?" "I would, really, but I can't. I can't get hold of anything let alone move something as ghosts don't seem to be able to do things like that." she explained looking sad.

"Quit the whining already!" Another voice called out suddenly. Anna appeared walking through the door as if there wouldn't even be one.  
>"Anna!" "Hey, Jeremy, hang in there! I'll find a way to get you out of here!" Anna replied sounding convinced of her statement. "And I have a plan how to achieve that!" a winning smile gracing her face.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>In another cell not so far away:<strong>

"Wake up, Ty!" someone called out to him while he slowly regained consciousness again. "Come on, I know you can hear me!" The voice spoke on. He knew that voice. _'Caroline!'_

He opened his eyes and saw her standing before him, arms crossed over her chest. But she didn't look anything as he remembered her. She wore black jeans combined with knee-high black boots and a white low-cut blouse. An antique necklace with a striking blue sapphire hanged from her throat which seemed to glow in the darkness surrounding them.  
>"There you are again!" She smiled at him.<br>"Care! It's so good to see you! Where are we? Klaus attacked us! We have to get out of here and rescue the others!" "Well, actually it was Klaus idea maybe but the actual attack was leaded by my." A cruel smirk covered her face. "And I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where you are."

"What?" Tyler found himself to be shocked. "But why would you do that?"

"Because I wanted to. And because I could." Her smirk turned into an even crueler smile with that being said. "Care! I can't believe you! This isn't you!" "And you would be one to tell, why?" Her smile left and her gaze narrowed him. The sapphire was beginning to glow even more, freaking Tyler out to no end. "You don't know anything about me so don't even attempt to make me feel sorry for hurting a _friend!"_ she almost spat out the last word. "But Care! I am your friend! You know that!" he reasoned.

"A friend wouldn't let another friend get tortured by his pack." "Care, that..." he began but was stopped when she slapped him hard across the face.

"You know, I can't remember what I saw in you once. You are nothing but a pathetic puppy. You are clearly powerless right now. Useless. All alone." She traced a finger across his face outlining the mark that her hand left becoming clearly visible on his face. "What are you gonna do now?"

"I'm going to find a way out of here!" he spat back. With that Caroline laughed out loud then moving away and turning around, now making her way over to the door. "And I'll find a way to save you, Care!" he yelled after her.

"I don't want to be saved. So why should you do that?" she responded not even bothering to atop and turn around. As she had her hand on the handle of the door Tyler yelled something that made her tracks stop dead. "Because that's what you do! You help your friends!" She turned around quickly after and Tyler thought that the sapphire's light dimmed a little and something flickered in her eyes. But the moment came to an end quickly as the stone's light radiated even more powerful and Caroline's eyes hardened again. She walked back to him slowly while saying "You know, if you consider me a friend then let me show you what you let happen to your friends. You might find some resemblance to the night you let Jules have her way with me. Only difference now, I, your friend, will be the one to actually cause you pain..."

* * *

><p><strong>A few feet away in another cell:<strong>

Bonnie couldn't see anything. Her bones were sore, her whole body ached and something was wrapped up around her face blinding her sight completely. She didn't know how long she had been there as it felt like an eternity. After Jeremy was knocked over by some guy that appeared out of nowhere she saw Alaric and Tyler being thrown on the ground by another. She was about to come up with a spell as she was knocked to the ground herself by someone behind her and soon after she was blindfolded. The last thing she remembered was being hit over her head and losing consciousness. She woke up finding herself in this situation, chained up and unable to move even the slightest. Nobody had come to see her till know and Bonnie wandered if she should be grateful for that or not. She desperately needed to find a way out of here was all she could think of. But then an ear piercing scream broke the silence. _'Tyler! That was Tyler!' _Fear welled up inside of her. It was the first thing she heard at all while finding herself in here and she knew now that at least one of her friends was near but it didn't soothe her at all. And shortly after that she felt a presence near her. She couldn't see or hear even the slightest but she felt someone being there with her. But id didn't feel like a real person at all. It was something.

"Who... Who... is there!" she stuttered out. No one answered her. But she still felt it nevertheless. "I know that you're there so tell me!"

"I can't believe that the plan of this damned Anna-chick would actually work."

"Vicky?"

**End of Chapter 9**

* * *

><p>Please review! Pretty please? :)<p> 


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing! It was really a pleasure to read them! I hope that you will like the following chapter as well as the ones before! :D **

**Have fun! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Matt still couldn't wrap his mind around what just happened. He was having a good time back at the Lockwood mansion. Then he even believed that he saw Caroline for a moment, standing in one of the rooms with Damon. But as he was about to go to her hell literally broke loose. There were screams everywhere! People he'd never seen before invaded the gardens, attacking every person there was! And there were so many of them! He tried to call out to Caroline only to find her being gone as well as Damon. Then suddenly someone flew into him from behind. As he turned around he saw that it was Mrs. Lockwood, lying on the floor like a broken doll. He looked up and saw three guys standing before them, not looking very friendly at all. Their eyes were deep black and fangs were clearly visible. They were grinning like mad and slowly making their way over to them. Matt then took a hold on Mrs. Lockwood and tried to help her up.

"Mrs. Lockwood! Stand up! We have to get away from here!" As she could barely get herself up while clinging on his arms for much needed support. "Matt, what's happening?" she asked weakly.  
>"I don't know but for now we have to get out of here!" he responded.<p>

"Isn't that cute? The weakling trying to help another weakling. Don't they now when there's no way left to get out of here alive? But well, try to save yourselves. With all the adrenaline pumping through your veins your blood only tastes even more yummy..." one of the vampires spoke up. Matt then tried to get Carol to turn around and move but she lost her balance only moments after and fell down to the floor once more. "Carol, come on!" Matt almost screamed at her. He turned to look at the vampires again and found them being directly in front of him now. He knew that even if he'd just turn around alone, leaving Carol, and dash out of there there would only be little chances for him to survive this. To that came that he couldn't let Carol alone. She was his best friend's mother after all! There was only one thing left for him to do. "Carol, get yourself up off the floor and try to run as fast as you can! Don't look back, just run!"

Even if this would be his end he wouldn't go down without a fight.

With that being said the three vampires made an attempt to jump him.

"Stop!"

With that being said the vampires stopped dead in their tracks. As Matt turned around another guy he didn't recognize was standing in the hallway. "Not those two. He still needs them."

_'What? He still needs us? Who?'_ Matt was clearly confused by now. Only a few moments before they was as good ad dead and now what?

Carol groaned painfully beneath him which caused Matt to look at her still lying in the same spot then before. As he looked back up no one was there anymore. They simply left. And along with them the agonizing and terrifying screams echoing in from the gardens. Now all there was left was silence.

"What the hell..." he spoke out lout, his voice echoing in the now empty hallway.

* * *

><p>"Vicky?" Bonnie repeated shocked! Could it be? But she was dead! How was that possible?<p>

"Yeah, it's me. Who would have guessed, eh?"

"But... How... That's impossible!"

"Tell me about it!" Vicky joked. "That's what I thought, too."

"Don't play stupid, witch." another voice chimed in then, foreign to Bonnie.

"Who are you?"  
>"My name is Anna. I think you've heard about me already."<p>

_'Anna? As in Jer's ex? Anna the vampire?' _"But you died, too! Back in the fire!"

"Well, actually I was staked by the mayor, but yeah, that was me."  
>"But how..." Bonnie trailed off. She didn't seem to be able to process what actually happened. Vicky and Anna were there with her. They were dead, she knew this, but why could she hear them then? Was she about to lose her mind? Was she dead as well?<p>

"You want to know how? Well, isn't that ironic? The one responsible for this hasn't got even the slightest clue!" Anna mocked her.

"What? You think I did that? But I didn't do anything! I..."

"You didn't listen! What did they tell you? The ghosts you summoned? They told you that there would be consequences. But you didn't listen! And now I'm stuck being a ghost! You know how depressing that is?" she all but yelled at her. "Not to mention being stuck with the airhead over there!"

"Hey, watch your words!" Vicky threw back to her.

"Why? What would you do? Kill me?" she laughed to that.

"What the hell is going on?" Bonnie threw in, the confusion about the situation giving her a big headache by now.

"Don't listen to her. She's only angered because Jer liked me more than her. In fact he loved me. And only me." Vicky stated as a matter of fact.

"What? You? Sorry, but you're clearly overestimating yourself. Why would he _love_ such a whining little weakling?"

"Weakling? You call me a weakling?"

"Well, out of the two of us I clearly survived longer if that counts for anything."

"Yeah, most of the time being locked away! And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you die shortly after your mum died? Couldn't make it on your own? Needed mommy to get you through?"

"Guys..." Bonnie threw in.

"Don't you dare bringing up my mother! At least mine cared about me while I was still living!"

"Why, you little bitch!"

"Vicky, Anna!"

"Mistake me if I'm wrong but didn't your mother leave you behind and didn't care about you at all?"

"You know what? I clearly had it with you! I ..."

"Stop it!" Bonnie screamed at them now. Silence came after that. Bonnie couldn't believe it. She was most probably in a life-death-situation and in front of her were two ghosts, two vampire ghosts, fighting and bickering about whom Jeremy, _her boyfriend_ Jeremy, had more feelings for!

After a few moments of silence Bonnie raised her voice again. "I can't believe you! Believe me, this isn't the best situation to be fighting each other and screaming at the top of your lungs! If anybody heard you!"

"You and Jeremy are the only ones to even be aware of us."

"Jeremy? Where is he? Is he alright?"

"Don't worry, Bonnie." Vicky told her. "He's doing good and he's only a few cells down the hallway."  
>"Hallway? Where are we? And why are we the only ones to be aware of you?"<p>

"Well, why don't you tell her, Miss know-it-all! As you know everything better!"

"I actually know more than you as I have a brain AND now how to use it!"

"You know what? That was it! I'm outta here! I'm going back to Jer! If you need me later on, don't even bother!" Vicky exclaimed outraged. As silence followed after that, Bonnie assumed that Vicky stuck to her words and left without any further ado.

"I can't believe..." Anne could be heard a few moments later. "But nevertheless, I need you to listen to me. I will tell you all that happened and why. I have a plan that could possibly get all of you out of here in one piece. But for that you've got to concentrate on me now, okay? I don't know how much time is left so every moment is needed. You got that?"

After a few moments Bonnie simply nodded her head, trying to focus on the ghost right in front of her. After all she has heard about Anna already she didn't have a high opinion of her. But as it was possible that it would lead to their survival she was willing to listen. In comparison to the happenings so far this couldn't be that bad, right?

"Okay, first thing first. In order to get you out of here, Elena has to die!"

_'What he hell? Could this day get any worse?' _Bonnie groaned.

"As well as Caroline and Tyler!"

_'Yes, it obviously could...'_

* * *

><p>Everything was going as planned. He'd teach them all a lesson. He was nobody to be fooled with. They wouldn't stand a chance. It was pathetic listening to their scheming and watching each and every one of their attempts to reach him. Did these fools not now who he was? He was Klaus. <em>An<em> o_riginal_! He had his minions and his witches watching them every step they took but they didn't even realized or even thought about it. He could still laugh out loud thinking about how easy it was to get his vampires to being invited into the Lockwood mansion. This morning he sent Caroline over to the mayor's wife with them in tow. And as he'd wished it she compelled her to invite them at that very moment, clearly no idea what consequences this might have later on. And Caroline turned out to be better than he expected. With the help of his witches, his compelling, blood and a lot of vervain he broke her will and her soul in less than a few weeks. And what lay beneath that was nothing but a really amazing dark animal. Who would have thought that beneath her shinny and girly attitude would lay so much grief, insecurity and anger. She was cruel, reckless and, in his opinion, fantastic. In combination to Stefan these attributes were only enhanced and together they would lead to him getting what he wanted. He would break them all, bit by bit. He would make them experience things which would lead them to their emotional borders and even beyond that. And soon enough they would be begging him to take their lives. He would do that eventually but not in near time. Where would be the fun in that?

**End of chapter 10**


	12. Chapter 11

Hey everyone!

Thanks sooooo much for reviewing my story! I really appreciate that! :D

Here's another chapter! I hope you like it!

Have fun! :)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Slowly Damon regained consciousness again. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He tried to think about what had happened as he found himself being immobile. He felt himself being chained to a wall with chains that were unnaturally strong.

_'What the hell?' _Then it all came back to him: Klaus, Caroline, the Lockwood mansion, the attack...

"Rise and shine, my dear brother."

"Stefan!" Shocked, Damon opened his eyes to the voice in front of him. There he was. Stefan, his brother. But it didn't seem to be him at all. He looked exactly like he always did but something in his eyes told Damon different. His eyes no longer hold his caring and friendly attitude. "What, no hug? Oh well, I see, you can't." Stefan spoke grinning.

Instinctively Damon wanted to move over to him only to be reminded that he couldn't.

"Don't even try. The chains won't move, Klaus made sure of that. So you should spare your energy for later. He had one of his witches magically chain you to the wall. You have no other choice than to watch and listen."

"Stefan, you have to get me out of here." Damon reasoned.  
>"I have to? Really? And why would I do that?" "Klaus attacked us back at the Lockwood mansion. He has Elena and the others!" Stefan only laughed to this. "Elena?" he asked slightly amused and raised an eyebrow at Damon.<p>

"Elena, yes. You still remember her? Your girlfriend? Your girlfriend that you love?" he spat at him.

Stefan's laughter only increased to that.

"And what, pray tell me, should I do then? Free you? Try to overpower Klaus? Save Elena? And why would I do that? Because that would be the _right_ thing to do?"

Damon was speechless. What had happened to his brother? Was he for real?  
>"Stefan, what are you saying? This is Klaus, that..." Damon began only to be interrupted by Stefan shortly after.<p>

"I won't do that. I don't even _want_ to do that. Klaus made me realize what I truly am and I embraced it. I can't believe that it took me far over a century to come to terms with being a vampire. I was so pathetic with this whole bunny hunting going on and trying to live among humans! But that was a long time ago. And now here I am, new and improved you could say. Klaus made me see my faults and now I see what humans really are: Mine for the taking as you once voiced it." A cruel smile was displayed on his face.

"Stef, this isn't you. You wouldn't say things like that!" "You think so? Why? Because that would make me you? All the time I was disgusted by your lifestyle only to find out that I should have been disgusted with my own. But as I see know, the tables have turned. While it's me that finally behaves like what I really am it seems that you're the one who's turned soft now."Stefan chuckled then while strolling around the room. "Or is it because of Elena? I always knew that you had a thing for her."

"Stefan, listen to yourself! Do you even know what your saying?" Damon was getting desperate by now. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Admit it, Damon! You've wanted her all along. As well as you wanted Katherine back then. I once told you that history won't repeat itself, not even once noticing that it already did. I feel sorry for you. It must be hell to always be second best to everyone. To Elena. To Katherine. To our father..."

Damon felt like being stabbed right into his heart. Bringing up the whole Elena and Katherine debacle was one thing. But bringing up their father was a whole different thing.

Silence followed after that. A few moments went by before Stefan spoke up again.

"As we speak of Katherine now, I've met her today." The cruel grin reappeared on his face again.

Damon froze, not wanting to imagine what had taken place or better said, what Stefan had done.

"You're not gonna ask what happened? You, that was always desperate about news from Katherine?" Stefan shot him a curious look.

"What did you do to her?" Damon asked through clenched teeth.

"See, I knew that you wanted to know!" With that being said Stefan laughed. Then he became serious again and said: "Then I'm going to tell you..."

_**Flashback**_

"Stefan!" Katherine yelped.

To him she looked clearly shaken which he found quite funny actually. "Long time no see, Katherine. You look good." he told her while taking a few steps to close the distance between them. As he was right in front of her he looked into her eyes and continued: "But actually you always looked good."To that he smiled and his right hand went up to brush along her hair.  
>"Stefan! What are you doing here?"<p>

Still brushing her hair he answered: "Isn't that obvious? I wanted to see you. I missed you." He flashed her a flirtatious smile which went off as soon as he grasped her hair hard and yanked her slightly into his body. He then closed his arms around her and held her firmly in place as his face lowered to her ear to whisper: "Okay, I lied. I'm here to distract you."

"What?" Then screams coming from the mansion could be heard. Katherine tried to struggle out of his hold but found it to be impossible. Stefan only tightened his hold on her and laughed little. "What, don't you like being hold by me? Don't you love me anymore?" he mocked her. "Stefan, let me go!" she demanded. "Sorry, no can do."

"Stefan! Let go off me now!" "You know, your wish being my command was a long time ago." He moved his head lower so that his mouth brushed her neck. He could feel Katherine tremble a little against his body and smiled into her neck. "What are you doing, Stefan?" "Fulfilling Klaus' orders." "And what did he order you?" Fear could be heard in her voice. "Isn't that obvious? He ordered to kill you." To that Katherine froze in his arms. "You know, I don't see a reason for it as you're no real danger or anything to him. But he wants to see you gone nonetheless." "You don't want to do that."

"But I do." Another laugh followed. "Isn't that truly ironic? You being killed by the one you wanted to spend eternity with because you loved him. That's what I call bittersweet love."

"We're done down there! We got them!" A voice called over to them as another vampire appeared. "You're finished here soon? Klaus wants us all to head back!"

"Go ahead. I'll follow in a bit." Stefan ordered him slightly annoyed by the interruption. To that the other vampire turned around and sped off. Stefan's right hand let go off her to reach for the stake he had hid in the back of his jeans. After he got hold of it he returned it back to it's former place and pointed the sharp end on her back, right where her heart was. Katherine began to tremble harder then which amused Stefan to no end. "Stefan, don't! Please don't!" she begged. "Katherine, show some dignity. Begging for your life isn't the way you would want to be remembered, would you? Well, _if_ you should be remembered, I mean. Any last words?"

He felt Katherine taking a few unneeded breaths before hearing her again, somewhat calmer now. "Tell Klaus that his end is near. And Stefan... I love you."

_**End of Flashback**_

"You killed Katherine?" Damon cried more shaken up than he would have wanted to appear. Although he had wanted to kill her himself quite a few times, her actually being gone and on top of that by his brother's hand was to much to grasp at the moment. Stefan only looked at him for a long time.

He then took a step nearer again and looked Damon straight in his eyes again. "Let's not think about her anymore. There are more important topics for now. I need to apologize to you."

"For what?" Damon exclaimed startled. "For betraying yourself? For becoming the monster you once were again? For changing back into something you hated more than anything?" he spat at him.

"For letting it happen. He's here actually and coming over in a short while."

"What do you mean by that? He? Do you mean Klaus? What's going on?"

Stefan then took a step back again. Still looking into his eyes he responded:

"Klaus is going to kill you."

* * *

><p><strong>Same time in another cell:<strong>

"I won't let Elena die as well as anyone else!" Bonnie exclaimed. Anna was still standing in front of her. "But it's the only chance that you have!" she reasoned.

For what felt like an eternity Anna was trying to convince Bonnie of the importance of their deaths. She didn't really explain anything else of her 'plan' aside from Elena, Caroline and Tyler dying. Bonnie's head was throbbing by now and she wished nothing more that to actually see anything!

"They are my friends! I won't let them die, no matter what!"  
>"Why are you so stubborn? Don't you see that that this way of thinking is what got you all here in the first place? If they would have died as they were supposed to none of this would have happened! Or is it because of me? Because of my relationship with Jeremy? Okay, he loved me and all but that should be no reason for you to not listen to me! I'm dead, like for real this time! It's not like I could snatch him away or something."<p>

"Anna, stop it! The plan won't work! They are not gonna die! And if that's the only thing your plan consists of then it's truly a dumb one!"

"No, I'm not gonna stop! You have to listen to me! They have to die! You have to create a time loop and sent someone back to keep everyone from saving them!"

"A time loop? Are you crazy? I'm not capable of such a thing!" Bonnie reasoned startled. By know she was convinced that Anna was nothing but a crazy maniac.

"You are a witch teaming up with vampires and werewolves. You were able to raise the dead! You can speak with me and Butthead being ghosts! And now you can't even consider being able to create a time loop?" Anna argued with her. Bonnie was silent after that. She being able to create a time loop? Did she mean that for real? Bonnie felt like losing it as this was clearly to much that happened today for her to wrap her mind around all of it.

"Believe me, you can do it. I've seen witches do it before. Not often but a few times. I will tell you how to do it. But you have to be fully concentrated on what you do as we only have one chance." Anna told her.

"Only one chance? What do you mean?"

"Well, you see there's a catch. The reason for witches not doing it so often is that it takes all of their strength out of them. Sending a person back in time will lead to the witch's death. Well, in this case to your death."

**End of Chapter 11**

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><p>A time loop? Is Bonnie capable of that? And will Elena, Caroline and Tyler die? Will Damon die? And is Katherine really dead?<p>

Stay tuned to find out!

Tell me, what you think! :D


	13. Chapter 12

Hey everyone! Another chapter! Isn't that great? :D

I really love writing this story. I can't promise to update again today but I promise to do it as soon as possible. :)

Have fun with the new chapter! :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

**Somewhere outside of Mystic Falls:**

His head throbbed and all his limbs hurt like hell. Alaric put a hand to his head willing the pain to go away. He tried opening his eyes but the evening sun was to much to take right now. He felt like he died. _'Well, I probably did due to these damned vampires!'_ he thought to himself. Slowly he opened his eyes again. After he could fully open them he took in his surroundings and found himself somewhere in the woods as it seemed. _'Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?' _

Despite the pain in his body he sat up straight and tried to focus. The last thing he remembered was them running to his car, opening it and then they were attacked. He knew that something or someone tackled him from behind and that was it.

"You are Alaric Saltzman, am I right?" A voice said, coming from behind him. He turned abruptly and found himself face to face with a black woman he didn't recognize at all. Alarmed Alaric moved to stand up only to find that the attack and his 'death' still tired him out a little. He fell on his knees and tried to focus as another wave of pain washed over him.

"You need to rest a little more. You just died and your body needs more time to recover fully from that." the woman told him.

Alaric looked at her again and narrowed his eyes. He had no idea who she was nor what she wanted. In a different situation he would probably found her attractive but right now everyone could be a possible threat. He was confused by now. He was sure that if she wanted him dead that he would be already. But still something in her appearance made him tremble slightly inside.  
>"Who are you?" he demanded. "And where am I?"<p>

"You are about a mile away from Mystic Falls. I needed to bring you here so that the vampires wouldn't be able to track you down."

Alaric tried to make some sense out of what she was saying but found that he couldn't. He was getting irritated and didn't like any second of it. "What do you want from me? And who the hell are you?"

The woman took a deep breath and moved a few steps nearer. "Don't be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you. Actually I'm here to help you and the others. But we have to move soon as time is running out fast. My name is Lucy, Lucy Bennett."

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><p><strong>Same time in the hallway of Mystic Falls' hospital:<strong>

Matt was pacing back and forth. He still couldn't get what had happened several hours before. Right now he waited for any news on Carol Lockwood's condition. She had been in surgery for a few hours by now. He brought her here as soon as he found out that the vampires left. Many inhabitants were hurt badly as well as killed. It was terrible and Matt felt his head exploding while trying to find a reason in it. He hadn't been able to reach Tyler as well as Elena and the others. They weren't back at the mansion and he concluded that they had made it out of there in time maybe. But Tyler wouldn't leave his mother behind in such a situation. So where were they? He was worried beyond his mind that something bad happened to them as well.

"Excuse me, but are you the person that brought Mrs. Lockwood here?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked left and found a man standing a few feet away from him.

"Yeah, that was me. I'm Matt Donovan, a friend of her son. How is she doing?" He strode over to the person he thought of being her attending doctor. "Mrs. Lockwood is in a bad condition." he responded. "I tried to get a hold of her son but I can't seem to reach him." Matt told him. "I thought so. But that is not important at the moment. Would you please follow me? I have some questions concerning what happened so that we can see to tend Mrs. Lockwood as best as possible."  
>"Of course, Mr..." Matt then took in his appearance. Neither was the 'doctor' wearing a white coat nor a name tag could be found on him. A strange feeling overcame him. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name. What was it again?"<p>

The man took a step closer and gripped both of Matt's arms. He then looked him straight in the eyes and said: "My name is of no importance to you. You will follow me willingly and stay quiet." Matt only nodded to that. The man smiled and turned around motioning for Matt to follow which he did. Together they made their way across the hallway to the door, leading them to the staircase and eventually out of the hospital. The vampire still smiled as he opened the door and saw the stairs in front of him as he felt himself pushed down from behind. To startled he couldn't grip on the stair-rail and fell down about 20 steps, hitting the hard floor face first. He crashed down rather badly and felt some bones snapping and wondered what had happened when he felt himself being turned over on his back. "Rule No. 1 of surviving in Mystic Falls: Always watch your back!" Matt told him as he hovered over him. "Rule No. 2: Always carry a stake with you!" And with that being said he took a stake out of the inside of his jacket and pierced the vampire's heart.

Good thing he still kept to drinking vervain every morning, he decided.

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><p><strong>Back to Bonnie:<strong>

After being told by Anna how she could create a time loop Bonnie thought about her possibilities. She was stuck in a cell somewhere she didn't know, still being blindfolded so that she wouldn't be able to use her powers at all. Anna had been right as she said, that they wouldn't be in this situation if they had let them die back then. But still Bonnie couldn't let that happen. They were her friends. She would do anything to protect them, no matter what. There has to be another possibility. Although she wasn't happy of dying she would take the risk as long as it meant that her friends would survive this. She felt herself reminded of the first time she was ready to give her life to defeat Klaus and thus saving everyone.

For now she needed time to think. Anna was gone, thankfully, so she wouldn't have to listen to her constant rambling about _her_ Jeremy. And although she had actually come up with an idea that might get them out save, to Bonnie she was still a crazy maniac.

Suddenly she felt another presence being there with her. Bonnie groaned at the thought that Anna could be back to either declare Jeremy's undying love for her and her alone or explain the importance of certain person's deaths.

"Bonnie? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

For a moment Bonnie was confused as she clearly expected Anna to be there with her. "Vicky?"

"Yeah, it's me. So, do you have time?" She sounded kind of down and Bonnie wondered what the cause of that might be.

"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere soon, so shoot." Bonnie tried to joke.

"I knew what Anna wants you to do. But, please, don't do it. You can't do it." Vicky begged her. Bonnie was puzzled. "And why?" she wanted to know.

"If you do that you will die and you can't do that to Jeremy."

"What?"

"Bonnie, Jeremy lost two of his former girlfriends already, as well as Jenna. I believe that if he would lose another person that he feels strongly for that might destroy him."

Bonnie couldn't believe it. Here Vicky was standing in front of her, begging her not to risk her life for Jeremy's sake. Her heart went out for the girl. She knew about everything that happened to the girl and still here she was concerned about another person's well-being than even considering her own circumstances.

"You know, before I died, well, before Stefan staked me, I wanted to move away from Mystic Falls and wanted Jeremy to come with me. Back then I was really troubled with myself and the only person really being there for me was him. He seemed to be the only one who understood me. And he loved me no matter what I had done myself, with Tyler or anybody else. I wanted him to come with me, even to turn him into a vampire as I thought that nothing could go wrong as long as he is by my side. But then I attacked him and I know now that he would be dead if it wasn't for Stefan stopping me. I'm grateful that Stefan did that actually as I couldn't imagine him dying on my hands.

The first thing I did after I somehow got back here was going over to Jeremy. I believed that he would understand as he always did and that he would know what to do. But after he saw me, he was so shocked that I needed to leave. Regret washed over me as the last thing he must have remembered was me intending to kill him. But still I watched him a while after from a safe distance. And then I saw you two together. You looked happy. He looked happy, even more happy than back with me. And then I realized that he loves you, far more than he ever did love me. And that what brings me here. Due to me, Jeremy was devastated but if you would die he wouldn't make it through."

Bonnie was shocked to say the least. Although the day proved her to expect the unexpected many times by now but never in a million years would she have expected this. She couldn't even speak as she felt herself have a lump in her throat. She was so deeply stirred by Vicky's speech that she knew if she would actually be able to see her standing in front of her there would be no holding back tears anymore.

"I'm begging you, Bonnie, if there is any way around it, please consider staying alive. If you can't do that for you then please do that for him."

Then silence followed. After a few moments she found her voice steady enough again to call out for Vicky. After receiving no reply she tried again with no success. Then she found that she didn't _feel_ her then anymore and was once more left alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere else in Mystic Falls:<strong>

The first thing Elena felt was a soft cushion. As she opened her eyes she found herself lying on a red couch with a big black cushion under her head. She sat up and took a look around. She was in a room foreign to her, some kind of library as it seemed. She had no idea how she got there as the last memory she had was being in front of Alaric's car and vampires attacking them. For a moment fear welled up inside of her. She had no idea where and how her friends were. The fear in combination with the shock of what actually had happened were to much for Elena to bear and tears slowly made there way across her cheeks. She felt scared and lonely right now and due to that felt herself being impossible to move.

"My dear darling. There is no need to cry, believe me." Klaus voice could suddenly be heard behind her. She whipped her head around and froze. Klaus was standing a few feet behind the couch, watching her with a pitying face. "Spare your tears. You will need them later."

**End of Chapter 12**

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><p>Please review! :D<p> 


	14. Chapter 13

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for your reviews! I'm so sorry for not updating in so long! I've been on vacation and with the fall semester coming up...

But I hope the following chapter as well as the next coming up shortly will make up for it. :)

Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

He felt himself being dragged along on a dusty and dirty trail through the woods. He slipped in and out of consciousness again and again and knew that right now he was what he hated the most: Absolutely helpless. But somehow it didn't really matter to him. He was still shocked at what happened between him and Caroline not long ago.

As she was finished breaking several bones of his body and scratching and whipping his skin she took a step back and seemed to marvel at what she had achieved, literally breaking him to the bone. To that came that she showed him what exactly wolfsbane could do to him. Then she called out for someone and the two vampires came in. She ordered them to bring him out of there and take him to the woods as has was _'of no use anymore'_. And although he knew that Caroline wasn't herself her words stung. The vampires were supposed to take him deep into the woods and leave him somewhere to die. And that was actually what he felt like. He felt like literally dying.

After a few more yards they let go of him and he landed face first on the dirty ground beneath them. Every part of his body hurt. He felt his body being wounded several times and knew that those wounds were severe. He could feel himself covered in blood, in his blood.

He tried opening one of his eyes and saw or more felt the last warm straws of sunlight the sunset offered him. For a moment he thought that it could have been a really beautiful day. And now he found himself not wrapping his mind around the circumstance that he would actually die on such a beautiful day. But he knew that there was no reasonable chance of him getting out of this alive.

"You know, with all the blood he's covered in I'd really like to take a bite." he could hear one of the vampires telling the other.  
>"She specifically told us to just leave him here and not to touch him, let alone bite him." the other reasoned.<br>"Come on, how would she find out? She stopped thinking about him as soon as she turned out of the cell. By now she probably forget about him completely!" The first assured the other.

_'Did she do that? Did she already forget about me?'_ Thoughts like these were running through Tyler's mind right now.

"And since when do you listen to a newbie? She hadn't been a vampire for long so we shouldn't even bother to think about her opinion."

"But Klaus..."

"Klaus doesn't care about a werewolf at all. One less means another problem being solved to him. And just because he has taken an interest in the newbie doesn't mean that he would actually mind us feeding from one."

Silence followed which Tyler took for nothing else than a silent agreement between the two vampires. Great, this was officially the worst day of his whole life so far. And now it would end with him being drained by two vampires. He heard their feet rustling on the ground as they moved to stand hovering over him now.  
>"I can't wait. Seeing and smelling all this blood made me almost lose my mind the whole way down here!" the first one spoke up again. Tyler felt him getting nearer and nearer to his body. But by now he didn't care at all. At least it would take the pain away sooner as his death was inevitable by now. The only thought he could still held straight was about Caroline. He could swear that he'd gotten through to her as he yelled the exact same line in her face that she cried at him the night after her being tortured by Jules. So he still had hopes that she was still there, caught somewhere deep inside of her head. Perhaps if he could have more time... <em>'I'm sorry, Care. I'm sorry, I couldn't keep up my promise to save you...'<em>

With that he closed his eyes again and took a last deep breath while he waited for the fangs piercing his skin somewhere.

But the only thing that pierced anything was the sound of a shot being fired that pierced the air around him. Shortly after he felt a heavy weight falling on his back which caused Tyler to cry out in pain and his breathing to become even more ragged than before.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" the second vampire yelled out to someone Tyler couldn't see.

"Rule No. 3: Never underestimate your enemy! Who's the weakling now?" Matt yelled back and raised his gun again, firing another bullet.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile with Elena:<strong>

"I would like to say that it is good to see you but that would be a lie. I've been fooled. I've been fooled by your ancestor and now I've been fooled by you. Tell me, do you really think that I would not find out about it?"

Klaus still stood behind the couch and watched her intensely.

Elena was frozen in place. Even though she often imagined that he would find her one day, the imagination actually becoming real was a whole different thing. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was scared beyond her mind.

"What do you want?" she demanded, finding her voice more shaken than she would like to admit.

"What I want? Everything. The world. But for now your death will do." Klaus told her, an evil smirk appearing on his face.

"And I would like you to stay dead for now. But do not worry, you will stay alive for a little longer since I think you would want to say goodbye to your friends." he addressed her while taking a few steps nearer.

"Where are they? What did you do to them?"

"They are just fine, for now. Well, most of them. But they will not be for much longer."

"Leave them out of this! You have me, you don't need them!" Elena exclaimed.

"Always the sacrificing one, right? Tell me, for someone so young, how can you put the fates of your friends above yours?"

"Because they are my friends! They are my family! They mean the world to me! I won't let you hurt them! I don't care about what happens to me as long as they are safe. So let them go, Klaus!"

Elena slowly felt herself strengthen again. She couldn't let her friends, her _family_, get hurt.

"But I will." Klaus replied. "I will hurt them. I will even kill them. And you will watch each and everyone of them die."

Elena was sure that her heart was missing a beat at hearing that. "But why? You want me and you have me! They are of no importance to you!"

"That is true. But as you said yourself they are of importance to you. And in the process of killing you I will kill them one by one. You fooled me and you will pay for it. What do they say? Revenge is sweet. And nothing is sweeter to my eyes than the mixture of cries, blood and death." He was standing right in front of her by now and flashed her a smile. "And I know the right person to start with. What is your brother's name again?"

"Don't you dare hurting Jeremy!" Elena yelled and went to hit him but Klaus easily caught her right wrist and yanked her form against his body. Elena could feel him intensify his hold on her wrist. It hurt a lot but she breathed in deeply a few times trying to concentrate of something else then the pain. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her writing in pain she told herself.

Klaus only laughed at her while leaning down and whispering in her ear: "Now it is time for a little family reunion..."

* * *

><p><strong>Back to Damon:<strong>

"Wow, I didn't see that one coming!" Damon spat at Stefan, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Come on, Stefan! Get a grip, remember who you are, get me out of here and let's show him who is killing who!"

"Damon, try to think for a moment, okay? The whole place is full of vampires, witches and meaningless minions serving Klaus' wishes. Even if I would help you, you wouldn't get far."

"Since when did the possibility of certain death and failing stop me from doing anything?" Damon joked.

Stefan smiled at that. "That's true." he replied. "It didn't stop you from trying to save Katherine back then in 1864. You knew that our father would be out to hunt down everyone trying to cross their path."

Damon kept silent. The memory of them being shot down by their own father was a situation he would like to forget. Even though his relationship with the elder Salvatore wasn't the best to say the least, being killed by him was the hardest thing he had to overcome back then.  
>"You know, he shot you first." Stefan told him. Another fact he didn't need to be reminded of. "After you fell down I turned to look at him. He watched you going down expressionlessly. Then he turned over to me and deadpanned. He asked me '<em>Stefan, you as well?' <em>You know, I always like to pretend that he didn't know it was us. But he knew. After staring at me for a few moments he lowered his face and said _'I expected such a betrayal from your brother but never would I have thought about you betraying me as well.'_ I wanted to say something to him but found that I couldn't. The shock of your death was too much to even think straight. But then our father raised his head again and and continued saying '_I will pray for your soul.'_ Next thing I saw was the bull barrel of his weapon." A sad expression took over Stefan's face.

Damon was shocked. As well as his brother he liked to think that their father didn't know who he shot back then. But hearing the honesty in Stefan's words broke this imagination.

"That's another reason I killed him in the end. For him shooting you down without remorse."

**End of chapter 13**

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><p><strong>Hope, you liked it. :) Please review and tell me what you think of it! <strong>


	15. Chapter 14

Hey everyone! As I promised before the next chapter is already here!

Expect the unexpected I might say!

Hope you like it! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

**Back to Tyler and Matt:**

"Matt? Is that you?" Tyler couldn't believe it. Only a few moments before he was sure dying and here Matt appeared and saved him!

"Yo, bro! It's me! You should have seen the face of this damned vamp as I send a bullet into his face!" Matt replied as he walked over and slightly touched Tyler's shoulder. Tyler winced as the unexpected contact. His body was sore and weak and he was convinced that his death still was a certainty.  
>"Can you move?" Matt asked him concerned.<br>"Don't think so. I feel like dying, Matt." Tyler replied, felling himself getting weaker and weaker.

"Come on, Ty! Hang in there! I'll find a way to help you! Come on, keep talking!"

"Matt, I have to tell you something." Tyler began. "First off: I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? For what?" Matt asked while looking around desperately trying to find something, a_nything,_ to help his friend. He took of his shirt putting it on Tyler's wounds on his back. If he could just get his wounds to stop bleeding...

"I'm sorry for lying. I've lied to you about what I am. And about Care..."

"Ty, stop the words for later. Don't give me your last words 'cause there will be a long time coming before you actually need to say them. But not today, not here!"

"Matt, I..." but Tyler's voice broke. Breathing became nearly impossible for him. Every time he tried he coughed up blood. He felt like losing grip on his body. _Is this dying? Am I dying now? _He asked himself.

"Ty, come on! Talk to me! Tell me something! Anything! Just keep talking!" he could hear Matt's encouraging voice faintly. "Bro, don't leave me here! You can't leave me! I need you! We have to save the others! We have to save Care! Come on, don't give up!" Even though his voice was more a whisper to Tyler by now he could clearly make out how desperate Matt was. And he wished so much to do what he wanted him to. To talk. To stand up. But he couldn't do that anymore, no matter how much he wanted to. Matt had been his best friend since kindergarten, they were like brothers. And although they fought much this past year they still were. And Tyler felt glad to be sure of that in this moment. He wanted to turn over and look at him but opening his eyes again became impossible as well. But then he saw something. A light. A blinding light even though his eyes were closed. He felt a warm feeling spread over him. _This must be the end... _

"Tyler!", Matt cried.

And with that Tyler's mind slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Jeremy:<strong>

"Why do I have a feeling that you don't tell me everything?" he asked Anna.

"What do you mean? Bonnie will do the time loop and everything will be good again."

"But Bonnie is held captive as well. Is she even strong enough to pull off anything like this?" Jeremy didn't have such a good feeling about any of this. Of course, he had seen Bonnie perform magic. She was incredibly strong. Heel, she brought him back from death! But still she had been in good shape back then. But now they where here in this... _hole!_ To that came that he knew exactly how Bonnie would do anything to save them, even willingly sacrifice herself for it. And he couldn't let her do that.

"Bonnie is a witch with a very strong bloodline. She can do anything she wants to. Don't worry, she will be able to do that." Anna assured him.

"But what will happen to her? And what is supposed to be changed in the past?"

"Well... " Anna began but was interrupted as the door in front of them was opened. Both Anna and Jeremy stared at the door and both overcame a bad feeling._  
><em>Due to the lack of light Jeremy couldn't make out anything at first. But then he saw a small silhouette walking through the doorway.

"Elena?" Jeremy exclaimed relieved. Even though he could only make out the silhouette he was sure. He had grown up with her and therefore could tell it's her just by her walk and attire.

"Jeremy!" Elena cried and ran over to him. She threw herself against him and embraced him tightly. "I'm so glad that you're okay!" she cried in his shoulder.  
>Jeremy could feel his eyes become teary. He would like to return the embrace but couldn't due to the chains holding him captive.<p>

"Elena, are you okay?" Jeremy had to make sure of her well-being. Even though they found out Elena was adopted and actually his cousin nothing would ever change him thinking of her as his sister.

Elena took a step back and looked up at him with teary eyes. "Oh Jer, it's so terrible! Klaus has..."

she began but was interrupted by a cold laugh coming from the doorway.

"Klaus!" he could hear Anna speak up huskily.

Jeremy's gaze was fixed on the entrance. He had never seen Klaus before, only heard of him, and couldn't wait to see a face to all those stories of misery. But for now he saw nothing else but a silhouette of a large man slowly strolling into the cell.

"It is so dark in here. We should add a little light to this family reunion, should we not?" he heard his amused voice saying with a heavy accent. Shortly after he said that two men entered behind him both holding torches which illuminated the room immediately. Jeremy had to close his eyes as his eyes weren't used to the light after being so long in this dark cell. He opened them slowly again and as they became adjusted to the light he looked around again. The man who he presumed to be Klaus was standing in the middle of the room, both of his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He was tall and had striking blue eyes. He didn't really looked anything as Jeremy expected from a cold-blooded murderer. But his eyes held a scent of ruthlessness and the feeling of danger radiated off of him in waves. He was looking at both Elena and Jeremy intensely as a predator would watch his prey shortly before attacking.

"Family reunions have something magical. The relief, all this suppressed emotions and the unexplainable rise of hope." Klaus told them. "Even in such a situation where hope is unnecessary as there will be no escape." A cruel smile grazed his stoic face.

"Klaus, leave Jeremy out of this! He has nothing to do with all of this!" Elena pleaded.

"What's going on here?" Vicky asked as she appeared in the room by walking through the walls but was noticed only by Jeremy and Anna. "Jeremy, are you okay?" she asked.

"But he has everything to do with it, my dear Elena. I will make you feel sorry for fooling me and he is just the beginning."

"What do you want from me? I won't tell you anything! And I certainly won't o anything to hurt Elena!" Jeremy yelled at him.

"But you do not need to do anything, my boy. Well, almost actually. You need to die." he told him with a chuckle.

"No!" Elena cried while throwing herself fully in front of Jeremy shielding him with her body.

"Do you want to say any last words to your dear brother? You might as well say them now because there will not be much chance for you to do later."

"Don't you dare hurting Jeremy! I won't let that happen!" Elena cried on.

Klaus laughed then loudly. "You weak little human want to stop me? With what army may I ask?" He laughed more but then stopped abruptly and fixed his gaze on Elena.

"You cannot stop me."

Then within a blink of an eye he had Elena standing at the other end of the cell again holding her back to him strongly. He had a powerful grip on her body so that Elena's struggling looked less hard as it actually was. He then lowered his head to her right ear and told her "No one will stop me. And you will watch just what exactly that means for your brother."

Then another man entered the cell holding a large dagger. He took large steps in Jeremy's direction bringing the dagger into position.

"No! Jeremy!" Elena and Anna cried desperately.

"Jeremy!" Vicky yelled desperate. On pure instinct Vicky ran and jumped on the man moving his arm to make the lethal strike.

And suddenly the dagger jabbed into a heart. The heart of the man holding it only moments before, now lying motionlessly on the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere in a very different time and space...<strong>

He was at his favorite place. Lying on the grass of the vast park of his family estate right next to the old weeping willow. The sun was shining and warming him. He could hear light laughter in the air. His youngest sister, Sophie, was running along the grass playing with one of their dogs. Another sister, Marie, was horseback riding with one of his brothers, Nigel, along the outline of the park. Two of his brothers, Alexander and Ephraim, were down by the lake swimming. The only sibling left was his eldest brother, Klaus, but that wasn't such a problem to Elijah as Klaus meant anger and restlessness. He didn't know why his brother was so different then the rest of them but right now he couldn't care less. Everything was fine as it was. He felt peaceful.

"Such harmony! It's so beautiful!" A feminine voice heavy with sarcasm disturbed him from behind. Not expecting a foreign voice at this moment Elijah sat up immediately and turned to look around. There in front of him stood a woman. Her long deep brown hair was curly, her brown eyes held amusement in them. She looked beautiful but seemed absolutely out of place. Her clothes were very different from the ones his sisters wore. She wore some kind of tight black trousers, displaying her petite and thin form. To that came black leather boots which came up to her knees and an almost see-through black blouse on top of it. Her whole attire didn't fit even remotely close to what women normally looked like around here. Elijah was shocked to say the least. He had no idea where she came from as no strangers were allowed inside the park. It was heavy guarded due to his parents which enjoyed privacy unlike anything else. But although he was sure that he had never seen her before he felt that he knew her. That he was supposed to know her.

"Who are you?" he asked her uncertainly.

"What? You don't know me? Come on, Elijah. Given our history I believe you wished that you wouldn't know me but there's no way around it I'm afraid." she replied.

"Our history? Excuse me, but I do not believe that I know you, madam."

"But you do know me, Elijah. Remember, we met before. On this estate as well. And you hunted me down for nearly half a century."

"I hunted you down for a few centuries? What do you mean? I think you have mistaken me for somebody else. I do not know what you are saying."

"My name is Katherine. Ring a bell?" she mocked him.

"Katherine?" he repeated and felt something inside his stomach sting. _What does that mean? Do I really know this strange woman?_

Elijah was deep in thoughts for some time as Katherine spoke up again.

"I always liked it here. It was so beautiful back then."

Elijah looked up at her again. She was standing next to him now with her arms crossed in front of her. She surveyed the park and a little sad smile came up upon her face.  
>"But you know that this is not real, Elijah."<p>

"Not real? What are you saying?"

"This is a dream you are in. A dream of the past. But it is time to wake up now. You have sleep far to long." she told him still surveying their surroundings.

_A dream? _Elijah wondered. Somehow he found her words confusing. But he was drawn to her by what he couldn't explain. Even though he couldn't understand any of it he felt something inside of him wanting to listen to her. Something that longed to hear her words. So he listened.

"This scenery is a long time gone. Your brother made sure of that."

"My brother?" he asked. Suddenly a thunder could be heard. As Elijah looked up and saw black clouds coming up and felt the wind picking up.

"He was the one who brought misery upon all of you."

Then screams could be heard coming from the mansion lying north of the park. _My Parents!_

But his brothers and sisters still went along as if nothing happened. Sophie was still playing with the dog as unimpressed as the others.  
>"What is happening? What are you doing?"<p>

"I didn't do anything. Klaus did all this."

"Klaus? Speak, woman! What do you mean by that?"

Katherine turned to look at him and looked him into his eyes directly. "Remember what happened, Elijah! Klaus was the one to slaughter thousands. He even went against his own family! He killed your parents, your brothers and sisters as well as he killed you!"

"Klaus? He killed me?" Klaus felt like being hit in the face. His brother would kill all of them? Sadness overcame him as he felt the truth in her words even though he couldn't really explain why.  
>"Elijah! Big brother! Please, help me!" Sophie cried suddenly. He looked over at her and was shocked to see that she was still playing with the dog as if nothing happened. But as he took a closer look at her face he saw that her face seemed to be washed away. Her beautiful childlike blue eyes weren't there. Her mouth and nose were missing as well. It was just a blank face on the girl. He looked as his other siblings and saw that it was the same with them. But how could that be? Just a few minutes ago he could see all their smiling faces with their shining eyes! <em>Or wasn't that real? <em>

Elijah felt nausea coming over him. His head hurt, his eyes hurt. His whole body was sore. He fell on his knees and held his head in both of his hands.

"Stop this!" he screamed. "Make it stop!"

"I can't. But you can! You can stop this, Elijah! You can still save your family! Just remember already and wake up!" Katherine's voice was ringing in his ears.  
>"What do you mean remember? I have no idea what you're talking about!" A headache made it almost impossible for him to think straight. The cries from the mansion became louder and more desperate. He could smell burnt wood and flesh and blood in the air.<br>"Remember everything! Klaus, me, your family, Elena, the Salvatore brothers, Mystic Falls! The werewolves! The Petrova doppelganger!"

_Petrova!_

Suddenly everything stopped. He heard nothing anymore, smelt nothing and saw nothing. He was alone and nothing but darkness surrounded him. Then long forgotten memories came back, flashing inside of his head like lightnings. He remembered. The hunt after the Petrova doppelganger, his brother Klaus turning into a werewolf. His family. One by one killed by Klaus. Mystic Falls, the ritual.

_'Wake up, Elijah..._' he could hear a faint voice somewhere in the darkness. This was all a dream. Klaus killed him. Elijah felt anger rise up inside of him.

_'Wake up...'_

Elijah became determinate again. Yes, he would wake up! He would wake up and put an end to all of this. He was going to do what he should have done a long time ago. He will kill Klaus.

With that Elijah felt himself being lifted up.

Slowly he opened his eyes again only to shut them shortly after. It was far to bright for his eyes to bear.

"Rise and shine, Elijah! I hope you enjoyed the rest as you probably won't be getting any in the near future!"

_This voice... _

Elijah opened his eyes widely and looked at the person standing in front of him, holding the stake which was pinned firmly in his heart before.

"Katherine!"

"Yeah, the one and only! So what? You know, now that I saved you from rotting for eternity I think you owe me something." With that being said she flashed him a smile.

**End of chapter 14**

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><p>Come on, you didn't really think that I would finish off Katherine for good now, did you? Why would I? She is great! She's one of my favorite characters. :)<p>

Now with her and Elijah back in the ring the tables have turned around again. And what happened back with Jeremy? Was Vicky really able to tackle the guy and kill him?

And will Damon be able to get Stefan to help him? Will he tell him that Katherine's still alive? Does he even know that? What happened with Tyler? Is Matt able to help him? Will Bonnie risk dying in order to save them all?

So many questions! But the answers to them will come in a short while. The whole story is planned out already. Any ideas on what could happen next?

Well, stay tuned to find out. :D

And please review!

Xoxo!


	16. Chapter 15

Chap 15 is up! :D

It's only a short one. Hope you like it though!

To Nicole: Thanks for reviewing! This will only have a little bit of Caroline in it. But in the next chapters she'll play an active part again. I love Caroline. To that comes that she is one of the main characters in the story so you'll read enough of her later on. :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

Sun streamed through the curtains oh the Forbes' household. Liz Forbes was busy in the kitchen. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 7 p. m.. _She should be here any moment._

Things seemed to have lighten up for her. As she woke today she felt rested and at peace. Caroline was right telling her to get a little free time from her job. She even decided on wearing a summer dress for once. She remembered how her daughter always whined about her not wearing them more often. Liz smiled to that. She was happy that the relationship with Caroline had overcome the recent _changes..._ Liz was even quite thankful for them as they lead to restoring the long strained link between mother and daughter. And after the shock of finding out she was a vampire Liz was able to see the positive side of it. Caroline was still there, safe and sound. She admitted that it may appear selfish but what mother wouldn't adjust to anything as it meant to still see her child every day. She felt terrible fr what she once said while being in the cell over at the Salvatore's. But those times seemed a long time ago and things were good now.

Then she could hear the front door open.  
>"There you are, my dear!" Liz exclaimed and began walking to the front door.<br>"Hi mum!" Caroline replied while flashing her a bright smile. "Oh my god! You're wearing a dress! You look beautiful!" With that being said she walked over to her and both women hugged.

"The dinner will be ready shortly. I made you your favorite." Liz told her. "But mum! You shouldn't have!"

"But of course! Everything for my daughter! You have been gone far to long and we still have to celebrate your return properly." Liz explained while leaving for the kitchen again. "Would you be a dear and set the table?"

"'Course." Caroline answered while walking over to the cupboard to get out the dishes.

While she was occupied Liz looked at her sideways. Caroline looked as bright and beautiful as ever. But she was smiling a true and sincere smile that was missed on her face far too long. And in that moment Liz decided that the world outside of their little household could go to hell for all she cared.

Right now the council and vampires and all that stuff and even her job was of no importance to her. She had her daughter with her. And her daughter was happy. Everything was fine.

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><p><strong>Back with Stefan and Damon:<strong>

"What do you mean? You told me that you killed him by accident! That you pushed him and he fell against that splintered rod end!" Damon was shocked beyond his mind. Never in a million years would he have believed that Stefan would have killed their father willingly.

"Well, stories don't always get told the right way. Don't get me wrong, he did. But only in the end." Stefan explained.

"In the end? Stefan, what did you do? What happened?"

"After we both turned I went back there as I told you before." Stefan began. "He started of by telling me what a disgrace we were to the remembrance of our beloved mother. Well, mostly you as your relationship wasn't exactly the best one. I tried to reason with him. Told him that we were still there. Just different. But he would hear none of that. Then he started with blaming you for what happened. He told me that you dragged me down with you on your path into darkness and misery. I got angry at him. Told him that if it wouldn't it have been for you I would have died a long time ago. Remember when we were attacked by the 3 bandits on our trip to our aunt? You were only 11 back then. We didn't have any goods of value for them so they threatened us and even tried to kill me. But you stood up to them and fought them to keep me save. You told me to run, to get help and I did. If it wasn't for you I'd never have been able to escape them. Or that one time I was about to drown? Or as I got lost in the woods and father said that I had to find my way out alone? And you sneaked out and found me and instead on congratulating you he punished you for it. There are countless situations like this, big brother." A sad smile graced Stefan's face which appeared a little softer now. Damon knew that if he would still be living his heart would have skipped a beat or two.

"I reminded him of all those situations. And wanna know what he said? He said that it would have been better for me and my soul to die back then than being a vampire now! Can you believe that? In this moment I stopped seeing Guiseppe Salvatore as our father entirely and took him for what he was. A cruel and nasty aggressor. We fought, a lot, and I physically attacked him quite a few times. He was lying on the ground whimpering and begging me to spare his life for all it's worth. And I stopped. I let go of him and was about to leave as he stood up again. But then he said that he should have known what would become of us as our mother had been nothing more than a disgraced stray."

"What?" Damon yelped.  
>"Can you believe it? I got so angry and threw his across the hall and that's how he ended up on the wall with the rot stabbing him through his back."<p>

To hear his words send Damon's mind spiraling from the past to the present and back. He knew that his the elder Salvatore was what one would rightfully call a bastard nowadays. He was brutal and reckless. But bashing their mother was a new low even for him. If he'd still be alive Damon would love to finish him off himself.

"Shortly after that I turned every emotion off and just existed. That's why I became a ripper. It was easier then coping with the realization of what he really was and thought. That's even the reason for me becoming addicted to the blood rush."

It made sense to Damon now. He always wondered why Stefan had turned into a ripper so abruptly after having control over himself for quite some time. Even though they weren't exactly on speaking terms back than he always watched out for him. As they old saying goes old habits die hard.

"I never really thanked you for everything you've done, Damon. The first time we died we died as brothers. And look at us now. It's a shame."

"Stefan, why are you telling me this now?"

"Because it may be the last chance. And I wanted to come clean."

"Stef, we still are brothers. Remember, we achieved everything together back then. We can still do that." Damon reasoned with him.

"We may be brothers by blood but nothing more."

"So you chose Klaus over me? Over your own brother? I can't and won't believe you! Blood is still thicker than water, Stef!"

"Even for us vampires? As we are feeding on blood?"

"Stefan, we..." Damon began but was interrupted as some yelling could be heard. His cell was opened and a man ran in, clearly stressed out.

"Stefan, Klaus wants you with him now! Something has happened! And where the hell is Caroline? We can't find her anywhere!"

"I' ll see to getting in touch with her. She will be here shortly." With that he turned to exit the cell.

"Stefan!" Damon yelped to which Stefan stopped dead in his tracks and slightly turned his head to him. "You saved me so many times. I never returned the favor." he told him and with that being said left as the other man closed the door after him. And once again Damon was left alone in the cell.

**End of chapter 15**

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><p>I'll leave it here. I know it's short but don't worry! The next chapter will follow shortly. :)<p>

Please tell me what you think! Especially of the brothers-bonding-part. Did I capture Stefan's and Damon's characters good enough to make this appear believable?

Xoxo!


	17. Chapter 16

Hi everyone! Next chappi up!

This will be the last one for a few hours as I seriously need some sleep now. :D

To Nicole, Basshunter, DarkStefan and BangelSpuffy: Thanks so much! :D For reviewing and not abandoning me :D

Hope you all like the next chapter! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

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><p>The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes again was a big tree. Right in front of him. The sun appeared to have set for a while now as the last layers of sunshine touched the earth around it's stem. He found himself in a sitting position against another tree.<p>

"You had me worried for a moment there." Matt spoke up suddenly. Tyler yanked his head around and fount him sitting against another tree watching him. His pistol lying in front of him.

"Matt? What happened?"

"What happened? You were dying, man." Matt replied.

Tyler then remembered. He was sure he was dying. He touched his front instinctively and found that all his wounds had disappeared. His body was still somewhat sore but the pain was gone.

"I know and I know that will sound weird but why ain't I?"

"Because you were lucky." Alaric suddenly appeared on his other side. "Lucky that we found you and that we had help."

"Help? From whom?" Tyler asked confused. It was a little too much for him right now.

"From a Bennett." Alaric answered.  
>"A Bennett? As in Bonnie?" Tyler wanted to know. "Did she get out?" Hope rose inside of him. If Bonnie had been able to save herself they had a strong ally on their side.<p>

"No, not Bonnie. A cousin of her. Her name is Lucy." Alaric explained to him. "But she is a witch, too. A very strong one even. She healed you just in the nick of time."

So that's why he was still alive Tyler thought. He took a look around. "And where is she?"

She will be back shortly. Making some connections and trying to plan out our next moves. You should rest a little more. She will be back in a short while and we will make our next move then."

With that Alaric turned and walked off again. Tyler took a closer look at Matt then.

"What happened back at the mansion? Is my mother okay?" he asked him.

"Don't worry. You're mother was attacked but she's fine. She's in the hospital and being taken care of."

"She was attacked?" Tyler yelped as he jumped up on his feet almost losing balance and tumbling back over.  
>"Calm down, Ty. She's doing fine. As it appeared this Klaus had plans for the both of us. That seems to be the reason why we got out of the mansion relatively unharmed. Back at the hospital they tried to get back at us but I was able to fight them off."<p>

Tyler was amazed by this. "So you saved her? Thanks, man. Really, I mean it."

"Save your words, Ty. Of course I'd try anything in my power to keep her save. After all this time your mum has become more of a mum to me than my real one. She took Vicki and me in often enough as we both were still too young to live on our own as Mum left again."

Tyler realized the truth in his words. As they became friends at a very early age Matt was over at his house almost all the time. And after a while Vicki joined them. He could still remember his mum's angry complains about Kelly's irresponsible behavior towards her children. But most of the time the three kids had the times of their lives. Being somewhere in the woods with Matt and thinking about the past now made those times seem like an eternity ago.

"Matt, listen. I think I need to tell you a few things." Tyler began. Matt stood up as well and closed the distance between them. "Are you feeling well again? All better, you know, physically?" he asked him. Tyler looked puzzled and nodded his head. "Good." Matt said and sent a well placed punch right into Tyler's guts.

Tyler groaned and fell to his knees. While holding his stomach he yelped "Why the hell did you do that?"  
>"That's for keeping secrets from me. And for lying to me." Tyler glanced up at him with a confused look. "And that's that. So don't start giving me your speech anymore. Save the words for later. Right now we have some friends to rescue and some butts to kick." Matt continued.<p>

"So, everything's cool then?" Tyler asked, trying to sound relieved though Matt's punch still hurt. "For now." the latter replied. "Or you want some more?" he mocked him.

"No, no. I'm fine. Got the message."

The next thing Tyler saw was Matt's outstretched hand right in front of his face. He smirked up at him for a moment. But then a smile spread across his face and he took his hand. As he was standing both looked into each others eyes a few moments before the yelling began.

"Timberwolves! Timberwolves! Timberwolves!" With that they jumped against each other and their chests connected once.  
>Unknown to them Alaric watched them from a distance with a confused look on his face. But then he smiled and just shook his head laughing.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile with the Forbes':<strong>

Laughter rang through the whole house and Caroline was having a blast. Her mother and her drank quite some amount of wine up to now and were telling each other stories of the past.

As she first got back to Mystic Falls and back to the house she was surprised to find her mother in tears practically throwing herself at her. Liz hugged her and held her close for several minutes and just cried into her shoulder. Caroline thought about the irony of it all. When she was still here and wanted this desperately she received none. And now coming back as a ruthless vampire who's killed she was throwing herself at her.

She was even more surprised to find out that her mother was so shaken up to not think about taking vervain on a daily basis anymore. That's when Caroline came up with an idea. Klaus had changed her from being insecure scared Caroline to the superior and powerful vampire she was now. She now knew exactly what she wants and isn't afraid to take it. According to Klaus that's the reason vampires were superior to human beings. They were theirs for the taking. To do with them as they pleased. She wanted what was denied to her a very long time, a mother that took time and was there for here. A mother she could bond with.

Even though she wasn't the overemotional Caroline she once was she liked the idea and found herself enjoy it more than she initially thought possible.

With Klaus back in the streets of Mystic Falls she also compelled her to stay inside the house as she wouldn't want her to cross his path. She didn't want her to get hurt and therefore didn't risk anything. Her mother was not the target and she'd like things to stay that way. At least for now.

She remembered her 'training' as Klaus liked to call it with mixed emotions. In fact it consisted of nothing more that fighting, being injected with vervain to build up a tolerance, killing people, breaking bones, mostly her own ones in the beginning, feeding, compelling and fighting some more. If she thought really hard about it she even remembered pain and resentment against him and everything he stood for. She remembered being driven over the edge mentally and feeling herself being ripped apart from the inside. She saw and felt nothing but darkness anymore. But then Stefan's voice appeared out of nowhere that said '_Just go with it. Don't fight it, Care. Embrace it. It'll be easier that way.' _And shortly after she felt good again. She felt as if heavy weights were lifted off of her and felt light again. She opened her eyes and saw him kneeling in front of her as she found herself kneeling as well on a cold wooden floor. Then Stefan smiled at her and backed up again. Next Klaus appeared in front of her. _'Finally you have come to your senses. And as this should be celebrated I have a special gift for you.'_ He showed her a large box and opened it for her. Inside she found an antique looking necklace with a big sapphire. Before she could say anything or even remotely understand what was happening Klaus put in on around her throat and everything she remembered then was light, security and power. It seemed that the necklace was able to vaporize all her fears and insecurities and strengthened her from the inside out. Then her training began and even the killing wasn't so hard for her anymore. She even felt pleasure in it. Klaus seemed to be impressed by her and quickly gave her orders she fulfilled as he wished which pleased hm even more.

Stefan and her were teamed up shortly after. As he told them about returning to Mystic Falls she felt herself unsure at first. But this lasted only a small amount of time. She wasn't dumb, she knew that the necklace had something to do with her overall change of behavior. But as it only changed her for the best she didn't mind at all.

"You remember that one time that you found this abandoned little kitten and brought it home?" her mum began and interrupted her in her thoughts. "You didn't tell me anything about it and I came home from work to find the whole living room literally being ripped apart!" Liz continued and ended up laughing.

"Yeah, I remember that. And I'm still very sorry about that, Mum."

"Don't be, my dear. I'm the one who is sorry. After the divorce I threw myself into work trying not to think about anything at all for some time and missed the signs so to say. I didn't think that anyone would need me at all for personal matter. And because of that I missed being there for the one person that needed me all along. Our fights and everything along with it started with my incompatibility to be a good mother at that time. I couldn't deal with you being all emotional as I couldn't even deal with myself. And I am so sorry. You have grown up into such a beautiful and strong woman and I am so proud of you. I regret not being there for you when you needed me most but I promise I will stand right beside you from now on."

Caroline felt her insides tighten. She wouldn't have expected this coming from her mother. She felt almost being moved to tears. Liz looked her straight into her eyes and a small but sad smile appeared on her face.

"I called your aunt today. Aunt Lydia who lives in New York. She was surprised but glad that I called. And want to know what she suggested?" Liz smile widened. "She suggested that both of us should visit her in your next holidays! A few weeks just before you start college! And I said yes as I know that you always dreamed about living in New York even if it is just for a while!"

"What?" Caroline exclaimed shocked. She couldn't believe what her mum just told her. Aunt Lydia was her father's sister and she worked as a designer up in Manhattan. After the divorce her mum wouldn't even hear about any siblings coming from her father's side of the family.

"You don't like it? I thought you still wanted to go there. I can still call it off if you want to." Liz told her while her smile slowly faded.  
>"No, Mum! Don't call it off! I love it! I can't wait! I can't believe you did that!"<p>

Liz flashed her a smile again. "Then it's settled. I'll call her tomorrow and we'll set a date then."

Caroline couldn't believe what just happened. Everything she yearned and wished for was presented to her on this day. Liz hugged her then shortly and moved along to go into the kitchen in order to get them another bottle of wine.

Caroline was still happily overwhelmed as she heard her cell vibrate in the next room which yanked her out of her mood very fast. She knew what this meant. After being given a new number the only people knowing the number were Klaus, Stefan and her mother. Her mother was here with her and she couldn't really see Klaus using a cell in like _ever_. So that only left Stefan and Stefan meant Klaus. There went her pretty little fantasy of having a stable home and a normal evening with her mum right out of the window.

"Mum, I'm sorry but I need to go." She called after her.

"You need to go? Where? Did something happen?" Liz asked her concerned as she came back from the kitchen.  
>"No, it's just Stefan. I forgot that I was supposed to meet up with him tonight and really have to hurry now."<p>

"Stefan you say? That's great. You want to take some food along? He might be hungry. We still have some leftovers of our dinner." Liz suggested.

Caroline had to chuckle at this. "No, Mum. I don't think that would be necessary."

"Of course, if you say so. But dent him my greetings and maybe invite him over for dinner if he wants to as well as Elena and the others. I know how much you like having your friends over for dinner." Liz smiled at her.

Caroline felt her insides tighten again. She had to leave, right now.

"Okay, sorry, but I gotta go. Don't wait up for me! Love ya!" She told her mother while gathering her things and walking out.  
>"Love you too, honey! Be careful!" Liz called after her while waving.<p>

Caroline was out of the door in seconds and ran off at vampire speed. After a few moments she stopped and took in an unneeded breath. This evening was full of surprises. Far too many emotions for her liking. She felt overwhelmed. She felt bad for compelling her mother. But most of all there was this nagging question if her mum would have said and done the same things without the compulsion. And then she mentioned Elena and the others. And... Caroline felt herself beginning to panic. She had no idea why though. Since when did she care about any of it again? Then suddenly the sapphire began shinning brightly and Caroline felt herself getting a grip on her emotions again. No, she didn't care at all. Not about Elena as well as any of the others. In about a day they all would be history eventually so there was no sense in thinking about them anymore. And her mother did and said those things because she was her mother and she was her daughter. That's just it. At the end of it all Caroline would finally receive everything she ever wished for concerning her mother. Even if it meant turning her into some kind of weird Stepford wife.

But now she had more important issues to take care of. Klaus. And with that thought she sped off into the darkness.

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><p><strong>End of Chapter 16<strong>


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

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><p>"Okay, everyone! Listen and listen good!" Alaric called them over. It was about 9 p.m. now and already gloomy and dark outside. Within the last half an hour more people showed up and joined them at their location in the woods, vampires as well as witches and humans. Even some werewolves showed up. As it appeared Lucy had been responsible for that. She stood in contact with Katherine the whole time and together they called upon this <em>cavalry.<em> As it seemed Katherine wasn't the only person being hunted down for quite some time and being sick of hiding. Alaric took the leadership and was currently standing up on a hill surveying them all.

"Klaus and his minions are settled in an old mansion situated upon a fast system of tunnels. We don't know how many there are of them but his army consists of vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards and even humans. They're keeping a vampire, a witch and two normal humans hostage! You were instructed who I'm talking about before. Our goal is to rescue them. Under no circumstances they are to be attacked or done harm to! The vampire and the witch will be joining us in the fight against Klaus and his minions later on. The humans are to be brought out of there as soon as possible! They probably won't listen to you but they will be brought out of there and into safety immediately.

There are two other vampires, Caroline and Stefan as you know, who will be trying to fight you off. Protect yourself and fight back if needed but don't kill them!

The humans among you will be given special rings by Lucy at this moment. They will protect you from death. Don't get me wrong! You can and probably will be killed but if you wear these rings you won't stay dead permanently. So you are not to take them off under no circumstances at all!"

"Here's your ring, Matt." Lucy came up to him and gave him one. "Thanks, Lucy." He replied.

"I've got a question. Once we will arrive there are we just gonna jump in and cause some havoc or what?" Tyler asked her.

"No, we won't. Most of the others will be causing distraction for us to go in there and get bonnie and the others. First we try to find Bonnie. Together both of us can produce an invisible shield around us so that we can get to the others without Klaus' minions seeing us. Then we will get the others. Once we gathered them all, the two of you will make sure to bring the Gilberts out of there in one piece. Bonnie, Damon, Alaric and I will go after Klaus and the rest then. Katherine will meet us there at some point and then we will just see what happens." she explained to him.

"But why do you think that Katherine will be able to just walk in there? As far as I know Klaus hates her!"

"Because to Klaus Katherine is dead. Killed by Stefan."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Flashback:<em>**

"Tell Klaus that his end is near. And Stefan... I love you."

Stefan froze for a few moments due to her words and for a few seconds Katherine thought that she would have reached him on some level. But then she felt him moving his arms behind her back again. He raised them and Katherine what that was for.

But then he slumbered down against her suddenly. He lost hold of the stake and was sent into unconsciousness and was about to fall down hard if it wasn't for Katherine to catch his fall and lower his to the ground gently.

"Took you long enough!" Katherine than barked at someone coming up on the hill towards them.

"Well, you got the perfect last words so you really want to complain about it?" Lucy responded.

"I can't believe he would have killed me!" Katherine told her after a few moments of silence while watching Stefan laying beside her.

"He can't do anything about it even if he wants to, Katherine." After Katherine sent her a puzzled look Lucy moved over to them and took hold of his right wrist. On his wrist was an antique bracelet with a sapphire hanging from it.

"What is this?" Katherine wanted to know.

"This is the reason why Klaus can control everything Stefan does. This thing is bewitched if you want to say so. The person who wears it will feel powerful and fearless as the sapphire will suppress every thing in your mind that it's creator, say Klaus,wishes for.  
>For the wearer this fears won't exist anymore and will cross the borders those fears normally sets them. The sapphire will see to it that you won't go back anymore and only move forward. One will set for higher goals again and again, becoming more and more reckless, ruthless and brutal on the way. That's how Klaus creates his <em>perfect killers <em>nowadays. But the problem is that it will only suppress them. They can appear whenever Klaus wants them to or whenever the person who wears it is emotionally overpowered. That's how these persons become addicted to it as they will face the abyss when the stone isn't there, so to say."

Katherine was astonished to her words. She had asked herself how Klaus could have such a might over Stefan and now she got her answer.

"And how can we stop that?"

"It's like every other addiction. Take it off and they will be sent on a cold turkey."

"So, shall I take it off?" Lucy asked her. Katherine pondered on her possibilities for a moment.  
>"No, we will leave it there a little longer. Klaus will know that something happened if Stefan won't return. I have another idea. Can you put some false memories in his head?" She looked at Lucy quizzically. "Yes I can. It has the same effect as compelling, even with a vampire. Why?" the latter responded.<p>

"Plant the memory of him killing me in his mind. It might come to our advantage for Klaus to think of me as dead. Once you do that sent him back as if nothing had happened. You know what to do next. I'll leave for a few hours now but I will stay in contact with you." Lucy only nodded to that. Then Katherine looked back to Stefan once more and moved her hand to touch Stefan's face for a moment.

"Just a little longer, Stefan. I will save you, I promise." she whispered to him.

**_End of flashback_**

* * *

><p>"And that's how we all ended up here." Lucy finished.<p>

Tyler let her words sink in. Even if he wasn't certain that everything would move smooth it was a plan at least. He looked at Matt and both shared a glance. Then they nodded to each other and turned to look back at Lucy who sent them a small smile.

"We will circle the mansion from different directions. I want you to split up in groups of 7. Think about building them up with vampires and werewolves as well as with humans and witches and wizards as we can never be sure as to what to expect waiting there for us.

Most of these groups will cause some trouble in there to give a distraction for me and Lucy to reach the others.

I won't lie on this: This will get messy. There will be blood, broken bones and even death. So if you want to back out now, that's the last chance you got!"

Silence followed. Alaric surveyed them all and found none of them attempting to step out.

"That's great guys! We will start from here in 5 minutes. Form your groups and arm yourself properly! Ty, Matt, you will go with me and Lucy as well as Peter (vamp), Collin (werewolf) and Stella (witch).

I wish you all the best and hope to see most of you again when this is over. We have the unique chance to put a stop to Klaus' reign tonight! With this being said I will end my speech with the line I always wanted to say: Good fight, good night!"

* * *

><p><strong>Down in one of the cells:<strong>

Jeremy still couldn't believe what he just witnessed. As it seemed Vicki was able to tackle the attacker and more that that even kill him. Klaus freaked out after the initial shock wore off of him and stormed out of his cell dragging Elena along with him.

He was left alone in silence with Anna and Vic for quite some time now as none of them seemed to be able to grasp what just happened.

"What the hell was that?" Anna started after a few more moments of silence.

"I don't know..." Vic replied still standing in her spot from before looking on the dead vampire still laying there on the ground.

"But... What did you do?" Anna pushed after.

"I... I..." Vic stammered. "I don't know! I saw him moving to kill Jer and I just had to stop it! It just happened!"

"It just happened? You finished him off in ghost form! How can that just happen? We weren't even able to grip anything with our hands before! But you just did!" Anna almost screamed at her, clearly confused as the rest of them.

"So you think I'm lying or what?" Vic replied and both of them argued a little.

"Stop shouting for a moment and try to think about it." Jeremy tried to reason with them.

"Vic, what exactly happened as you tackled him?" he wanted to know from her.

"As I told you before I just saw him and went on him. Nothing more!" Vic replied and Jeremy could clearly hear desperation in her voice.

"Okay. Well, did you think about something in particular as you attacked him?" he asked further.

"No! I just thought that I couldn't let that happen and knew that I had to stop him!"

"You just thought that you had to stop him and nothing more? Come on, stop lying! That couldn't just be it!" Anna told her off. And a new round of bitching began.

Jeremy tried to keep a cool head and thought about what Vic just said. It was impossible... Or was it?

"Vic!" He called her setting an early end to their bickering.

"Vic, come over here and try to get a hold on my chains that bind me to this wall."

"What?" she asked him clearly confused.

"Just try it!" Jeremy almost ordered her so Vic came over and tried to grasp the chains above his head but couldn't get a hold of them.  
>"See, I knew I couldn't do it!" she cried being desperate again.<p>

"Come on Vic, concentrate on them. I need you to! You have to get me out of here!" he started while starring her straight in the eyes.

"Jer..." she tried to interrupt him but he wouldn't let her.

"You have to get me out of here! Think about what will happen if you don't!" each words of his became louder and more desperate, never once breaking eye contact with him. Vic felt herself being sent into a limbo. She wanted to help him so badly but couldn't. She was so worked up on his words.

"Klaus will come back and kill me! Don you want that? Do you want me to be killed, Vic? Is that so?" "Jeremy, stop!" Vicky tried to stop him but without success. His accusations hurt so deeply and she became more and more angered with each word. Angered at him because of what he thought about her and angered at herself because she felt useless in this situation.

"If you don't do anything to help you you are letting me die! Klaus will kill me! And it all will be YOUR FAULT!" he screamed the last part in her face.

In this moment Vic's mind went blank. And within the next few moments Jeremy was lying face down in the dirt on the floor as his chains weren't connected to the wall anymore.

Same time in Mystic Falls:

Startled Carol woke up with a start. At first she didn't knew where she was. But after taking in her surroundings she found herself in hospital and all the memories came flooding back to her. The attack, Matt telling her to run. Tyler! She panicked for a moment. She had to find Tyler and make sure he was okay! Feeling nausea coming up upon her body she tried to fight it off while sitting up fully and moving to get out of bed. As her feet touched the cold floor she shivered. She felt like crap but for now Carol decided that she had to keep moving. She could rest later with the knowledge of her son being safe. She pushed herself off of her bed with her arms and stood on shaky legs. Now if she could only find her purse. Her cell was in it and she could call Tyler. But she couldn't see it anywhere. Maybe they put her things in the closet of her room, she thought. She took a step forward and almost tumbled over as she felt dizzy.

In this moment the door opened and a man walked in. Carol looked up and found that she didn't recognize him at all.

"I'm afraid, Mrs. Lockwood, but you ought to not walk around in your condition. You should lay back down and get more rest." the man told her with a serious expression.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Carol demanded. She didn't like to be ordered anything by a person who didn't even introduce himself to her. "I think I can decide best for myself of what I'm capable of and what not. If you'll excuse me, I need to find my cell and call my son." She told him off in her usual derogative voice.  
>The foreign man chuckled at this. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you but you won't be able to reach your son. Not now and not ever." A cruel smile followed to that.<p>

"What?" Carol almost screamed. "What do you mean? Did something happen to him? Where is he? Tell me!" she demanded.  
>"If it makes you feel better I promise you that you will find out exactly what happened to him."<p>

Carol panicked once more. So many thoughts flooded through her brain so that she wasn't able to grasp a single thought at the moment. The worry for her son almost consuming her. She didn't even see the eyes of the man turn black and the red veins that popped up around them as well as she didn't notice him moving in her direction.

On the other side of the city Liz was happily washing the dishes while listening to the radio. She thought that the evening went really well and couldn't wait for Caroline and her to go on vacation together. Little did she know about being watched the whole time by a guy standing a few feet apart her house, observing her the whole time through the kitchen window. He felt is cell vibrating in his pocket and knew that it was the signal he was waiting for. It was time to get her.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter 17<strong>


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

* * *

><p>"Oh my God, Jeremy!" he could hear Anna yell. "Are you alright?"<p>

She was by his side and tried to hep him up but found that she couldn't. Jeremy's body was sore due to the more or less unexpected impact with the hard ground. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just peachy." he joked.

Than he brought himself into a sitting position and turned to look at the wall behind him he was chained up against just moments ago.  
>Vic was still standing in front of it looking all puzzled and confused at her hands.<p>

"I did it..." she muttered more to herself than to anyone in particular.

"Yeah, you did it. Just as I expected you to." he told her with a smile as his words caused Vic to turn around and her eyes found his.

"What do you mean you expected it?" Anna demanded.

"As Vic told us that she only thought on stopping the guy no matter what it took before she attacked him I got an idea. I thought that maybe if she would concentrate enough on something she would be able to get a grip. That's the reason I yelled at her. I knew that she wouldn't believe it herself so I had to push her. And it worked." Jeremy explained them still keeping eye contact with Vicki. "I'm sorry for what I said. I hope you know that I didn't mean any of it."

"I know, Jer. Don't bother. Actually I'm thankful that you said those things. They lead to me being able to help you." Vic responded and flashed him a little smile although she was still a little perplexed.

He looked at Anna for a moment and found that she looked a little crestfallen. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy." she replied sarcastically. "Did you come up with this idea just now or what?" she wanted to know.

"Well, actually, it was 'Ghost'."  
>"What?" Anna replied confused.<p>

"The movie?" Vic asked.

"Yeah, the movie with Patrick Swayze. It's one of Elena's favorite and she made me watch it quite often. You remember, he wanted to touch his girlfriend so bad and tried everything but couldn't. But as he concentrated on it enough he could. And Vic's explanation reminded me of it after some time. I didn't know if it would really work but it was worth a shot."

"Elena made you watch 'Ghost' more than once?" Vic laughed. "Hey, it was a good movie after all!" Jeremy justified himself and laughed as well while Anna was still in some state of confusedness.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Vic demanded after calming down a little.

"I don't know." Jeremy replied sadly. "As I'm not wearing my ring at the moment I think that walking out of here and getting into a fight with Klaus minions is out of the question. First we need to gather more information."

"And we need to find out more about Butthead's sudden power." Anna placed in annoyed.

"I could go and try to get out Bonnie! She's a witch and I think she's our best possibility at the moment." Vic suggested.

"Yeah, that would be great! You think you could do that?"

"I don't know but I could try. And while Beavis over there dwells in self-pity I could make myself useful and try out my new ability." she told him with a laugh. She felt got being able to be useful now. This whole situation and being a ghost all together brought her down most of the time. Anna wasn't helping that either as she mocked her most of the time. But after finding out about her power she felt glad and happy.

"Hey! Did you just call me Beavis?" Anna yelled at her outraged.

"What? If you call me Butthead I might as well just call you Beavis!" Vic mocked her.

"Listen, missy..." Anna started another round of their bickering but was brought out of it as Jeremy clinked himself back in.

"Vic, you go and try to get to Bonnie! At the moment you are our only chance to get her out. Anna and I will stay here and plan what to do next."

"Yeah, I will." Vic beamed at him while Anna made a face as Jeremy called Vic 'their only chance'. _Take that, bitch!_ Vic thought to herself as Anna's discomfort enjoyed her to no end.  
>"You watch out. I will be back as soon as possible." And with that being said Vic went through the next wall.<p>

He watched the wall for quite some time and felt relieved. Finally there was hope again. They could make it out of here. He just knew it.

Then he turned around around and saw Anna trying to get a hold on his chains that were still connected on each of his wrists.  
>"What are you doing?"<p>

"What does it look like? I'm trying to break you free of these damned chains. If Butthead can pull that of I should have no problems with it at all!" she explained clearly sounding annoyed.

And she tried on but couldn't seem to succeed.

"Ehm... Anna?"

"Shut up! I've got to concentrate. Chains... chains... CHAINS!"

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Bonnie: <strong>

Bonnie was weighting her possibilities. If she had to create a loop hole everything would have to run perfectly. She only had one chance as it could risk her life. But if that meant getting her friends out of here she was willing to sacrifice it. But who would be the person to sent back? Damon, Tyler, Jeremy and Elena were out of the question as they wouldn't agree on this. Hell, she herself didn't even agree completely on sending someone back to let Elena, Caroline and Tyler die! But if it was their only chance... Damon! He would be the only one to be headstrong enough to go through with it. But how should she reach him? She still couldn't even see anything! She felt herself close to losing it as their chances of getting out oh here alive were almost down to zero. If she could only see something...

"Bonnie!" Vic called her suddenly.  
>"Vic? Is that you?"<p>

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I'm going to try something. So please try to stay still." she told her.

"Well, it's not like I was about to go anywhere in the near future... But what are you trying?"

"Please, Bonnie, I've got to concentrate! So please don't disturb me!"

_What the hell?_ Bonnie thought to herself. She could feel Vic's presence near her body and wondered what was going on. She felt Vicki getting even nearer and almost freaked as she had no idea what the ex-vamp-now-ghost was up to.

First she heard the chains crack. _Were that... _

And the next thing she felt was the hard ground as she landed on it with a hard thud puff.

* * *

><p><strong>In the meantime with Elena:<strong>

Elena was back in what she thought was the library, sitting on the couch she woke up on. Klaus was with her pacing back and forth, obviously still concerned with what happened back at the cell with Jeremy. He even sent for two of his witches to come and clarify what had just happened but they couldn't seem to be able to give him an answer.  
>She herself had no idea at all and was as confused as everyone else. But whatever happened lead to Klaus sparing Jeremy and that was the only thing that mattered to her now. For now, Jeremy was save and she was thankful for it.<p>

Klaus on the other hand was getting more frustrated with every minute without clarification. He had his minions positioned at every entrance to the library and was and was barking commands every now and then.

Then one of the doors opened and two persons entered which caused Elena's heart to skip a beat. In came none other than Stefan and Caroline. Stefan didn't even look at her as he went over to Klaus with a stoic expression on his face. Nothing about his whole attire reminded her of the Stefan he was once. The warm and caring glimpse of light he carried everywhere he went once were gone and left was only a walking corpse. Caroline on the other hand looked at her but she received nothing but a bored countenance as Caroline raised her eyebrows at her.

"Here we are, Klaus. What happened?" Stefan asked him standing directly in front of him.

"Where were the two of you? I sent for you about half an hour ago." He turned to them with a threatening expression on his face.

"We are here now so why ask questions and wasting important time?" Caroline spoke up with an indifferent tone.

"Klaus sent her a look and continued "While we were down in one of the cells one of my minions got killed out of nowhere. And no one can tell me why or where the attack came from."

"What happened? In which cell were you?" Stefan asked.  
>"We were down with the little Gilbert and were about to kill him."<p>

"Could it be the witch?" Caroline suggested. "Bonnie wouldn't let anything happen to him as long as she has a say in it. Maybe she had something to do with it."

"No, the witch is being secured in her cell. She isn't able to perform magic in there."

Even though Klaus tried to keep his superior composure Elena could clearly see him struggling in order to do so as she watched him.

Then Klaus turned around to face her suddenly and his face grew stoic. "You!"

Elena felt her blood boil up at this as fear once more came up inside of her."

"You know exactly what happened, don't you? It is your little brother after all!" Klaus accused her and crossed the distance between them fast.  
>Elena tried to stand up from the couch as his threatening form came nearer. Without thinking she called out for Stefan who just stood there and did nothing.<p>

She tried to get away from Klaus but couldn't as she was gripped hard and went flying to the floor.

"Tell me! Tell me what happened!" Klaus yelled at her.

Elena lie on the floor trying to overcome the pain in her body as she made impact with the hard floor unexpectedly. Then she felt herself being lifted up and turned her head to see Stefan helping her up. Hope arose in her. Maybe Stefan was the same after all deep down inside of him. Maybe he would still protect her as always. But her hopes found were crashed as he helped her up only to sent her flying back on the couch. As she sat up again she tried to search for his eyes but he wouldn't even look at her. Elena felt devastated and felt tears coming to her eyes.

She heard someone chuckle and turned her head to see Caroline giving her an arrogant smile.  
>"What is it, Elena? Thought that Saint Stefan would actually help you for moment there? As he always did?" A cruel laugh followed that coming from Caroline and she continued "Well, newsflash: Those times are long time gone. He isn't a person anyone in there right mind would consider a saint anymore."<p>

"Care..." Elena began

"She is right, you know?" Stefan spoke up. He walked to where she sat and knelt in front of her.

"I'm not your puppet anymore."

"Puppet? Stefan, what do you mean?" Elena cried.

"I'm not the one to be toyed around with anymore. I'm over doing anything for you for nothing."

"Stefan, but... What are you saying? I am your girlfriend and you are my boyfriend. We love each other!"

"No, I loved you. How foolish of me to think that you loved me back."

"But I do love you!"

"No, you don't. If you loved me you would accept what I am. Accept that I am a vampire and kill for food as well as for fun. If you loved me you would have accepted the possibility of spending eternity with me as you had the chance. Back before the sacrifice when Damon gave you his blood. But you didn't."

Elena felt like being hit in the face. She couldn't comprehend what Stefan gave the idea to think like that. True, she freaked out after Damon gave her his blood but...

Suddenly a loud explosion shook the room.

"What the hell was that?" Caroline demanded after.

One of Klaus minions came running in. "Master, there has been an attack. The west wing just exploded!"

Another explosion followed and parts of the ceiling came tumbling down.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Jeremy:<strong>

"F****** shit! Why the hell won't it work!"

Anna had kept on trying to break the chains and obviously still didn't succeed in doing so.

She stood up and walked around the cell.  
>"This can't be true! This freaking bimbo can't be better than me! I'm more powerful than her!" she screamed in agony.<p>

"But no, these damned chains won't break!" By now she was standing directly in front of the door of the cell. "I bet I wouldn't even be able to break down this damned door whereas Butthead would probably just have to look at it to do so!" Being so full with rage Anna even started kicking and hitting the door, or better say kicking and hitting through the door.

Jeremy didn't knew what to make of it. He almost felt like laughing due to the surreal situation.

"You damned piece of wood! If I could I'd break you to pieces! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

And suddenly the door flew out of it's angles and ended on the floor good hundred meters across the cell.

Both Anna and Jeremy had similar looks of shock written on their faces for a moment.

"I did it!" Anna exclaimed. "I did it!" She jumped around and flashed Jeremy a superior smile.  
>"And now we will see who's stronger. The chains or me!"<p>

She came back over to him in order to give it a new try and this time it actually worked.

Coming out of his shock Jeremy spoke "You did it, Anna!"

Both smiled at each other now but only for a few moments as an explosion shook the whole house.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter 18<strong>

* * *

><p>Yay! Looks like the cavalry finally arrived! You think that they will have good chances? What will happen? Tell me your thoughts! :D<p>

And I want to say that love the movie 'Ghost' as well as almost every movie with Patrick Swayze, so don't get me wrong! :)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!

Till next time!

Xoxo


	20. Chapter 19

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing! :D

I'm sorry not updating this story as well as my other one in so long. I promise that I' continue it so don't you worry. :)

With university and all I won't have that much time but I'll update as fast as I can. Hope that the content of the next chapter can make up for it a little.

Hope you enjoy reading!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

"Were those explosions?" Bonnie shrieked. As the initial shock about being ripped from a wall by a ghost nonetheless wore off the relief about being able to finally see again after she ripped the blindfolds off was only short-lived. Two explosions shook the ground and Bonnie was almost hit by an enormous piece of stone that broke out of the ceiling.

"I think so." Vicki answered her. Bonnie then turned her head in her direction and saw her for the first time after her death. Hearing her voice while being blindfolded was one thing but really seeing her now was giving Bonnie the creeps.  
>"I can't believe I really see you..." she muttered.<br>"Sorry, but can we hold that discussion for later? Like, after getting out of here?" Vicki asked her impatiently and bringing Bonnie back to reality.  
>Soon after the explosions screams and yells could be heard outside of the cell.<p>

"Where do you think the explosions came from?" Vicki asked her absently while listening to the voices outside.  
>"Get the witch! Klaus wants the witch!" someone could be heard yelling on the other side of the door.<p>

"I don't know where they came from," Bonnie told her while moving up into a standing position and setting her eyes intensely on the door in front of her "but I'm not waiting here to find out!"

* * *

><p>Alaric, Lucy, Matt and Tyler and the others were already in one of the tunnels as the explosions went off. So far everything went according to the plan. Part of the distraction was to make Klaus and his minions believe that the mansion was attacked while they could entrance the tunnels without any unneeded attention.<p>

"I can feel Bonnie already. We are getting nearer." Lucy told them.

But the nearer they got the more voices they heard. As it seemed things started to turn into a riot as they could hear the first fighting sounds as well, meaning that the other groups arrived before them. As they saw light at the end of the tunnel they turned slower as they saw people rushing past. They waited in the shadow of the tunnel and as they thought that it was safe the vampire slowly went to the end and took a look inside. After looking left and right he signaled the others that it was safe and that together they made a dash for it.

* * *

><p>"Jer, we need to leave! Now!" Anna told him with firmness in her voice. They stood in front of the broken door and listened to the voices of their captors getting nearer and nearer.<p>

"Anna, you have to show me where Bonnie is. Vic still isn't back and with the explosions I have a bad feeling about this."

Anna nodded her head and with that both went running out of the cell.

* * *

><p>"Stefan, you go down and get your brother! Take him to the ball room! Caroline, you take the doppelganger and take her there as well!" Klaus ordered them and moved to go.<p>

"I will meet you there but first I have to see who is so badly mistaken in trying to bomb my estate." he finished with a threatening voice while retreating out of the room.

Stefan nodded after him and left through a different door. Still slightly shocked from the explosions Elena felt herself being glued to the couch she sat on. She watched Stefan leave and didn't know what to think at that moment. All happened so fast that she couldn't grasp a clear thought. And seeing Stefan not being the one she used to know and love with her own eyes sent her thoughts and emotions spiraling in her head. But though his actions and his attire had shown different she refused to believe that his change of behavior was a permanent one. Somewhere deep down must be a little part left of him. At least she hoped that and maybe, just maybe, Damon would be able to get through to him. Little did she know that it would take far more than that...

"Stop dreaming and get up. We have some place to go." Caroline ordered her, successfully cutting her line of thoughts, while roughly gripping Elena's arm and dragging her after her out of the library.

* * *

><p>"Hello! The ceiling is about to break in and I was wondering if somebody would be so kind to get me the hell out of here!" Damon yelled, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm, while literally hanging on in his cell. He heard explosions go up all over the place and saw the ceiling cracking in different places. He heard shouting all around indicating that Klaus was in fact being attacked.<p>

And even though he liked the idea of Klaus getting his old ass beaten up by someone he wanted to be that person himself. _'If I could only get this chains off...'_

Suddenly his cell door exploded right in front of his eyes for no particular reason. As pieces of the wooden door flew all around the place the main piece just fell down and caused dust to flow all over the place. Damon fixed his eyes on the entrance seeing a figure moving in as suddenly his chains went off and hit the floor with a loud thud.

_'What the hell...'_

* * *

><p>"Where to now?" Tyler asked the others. As they were moving along they faced nothing but long dusty floors with several cells. He felt himself being in some kind of labyrinth and was about to lose patience fast as every corner they turned around just let them to another floor with another corner and so on. His nerves were running on edge. Thanks to him being a werewolf he was able to see in the dusty surrounding. But his nose was driving him almost crazy. He couldn't make out one clear scent as far too many were around and with the screams filling his ears and even fire being another threat to his nose he couldn't make out anything that might lead them to the others.<p>

"We're getting nearer." Lucy replied. "Bonnie's presence is getting nearer."

"And where..." Matt began but was interrupted by a cry not far from them which froze both him and Tyler to the ground.  
>"Mom ..." Tyler whispered.<p>

"No, leave me alone! Let go of me!" Carol Lockwood could be heard screaming. Without thinking Tyler and Matt ran off into the direction they could her her voice coming from.

* * *

><p>"Where is she? You said that she was in here!"<p>

"She was in here!" Anna explained herself while she and Jeremy stand in front of Bonnie's abducted cell.

"You don't think that they hurt her, do you? That they took her away?" Jeremy asked, his voice giving away his uncertainty and fear concerning the possible answer to his questions.

Anna didn't know how to respond and lowered her sight down to the ground.

"I don't know... I really don't know..." she whispered.

Jeremy felt desperation coming over him and looked to the place where Bonnie was possibly chained to the wall. Her chains were lying on the floor, ripped off of the wall. The door of the cell was hanging loosely on its angles, burned pieces of wood lying everywhere around the room.

"You don't think that Vic might could have helped her, don't you? That maybe she brought her out of here?" Jeremy asked Anna while taking a step closer to her.  
>"Stop right there!" Someone ordered them. Both heads whipped around to find a man standing in front of them, blocking there way out of the cell. Behind him two other guys appeared, their eyes black and white fangs shown.<p>

"Jer, step back behind me! " Anna told him while moving to stay in front of him. "They can't see me! I will distract them while you get out here, you hear me?"

Jeremy looked at her for a moment. But suddenly the other two men went to run into the cell ready to jump on him when suddenly the arm of the former man lashed out causing the vampires to freeze in their attempt.

"Well, well, well... If I wouldn't know it better I'd say that your not the only person being in this room. But then again, maybe you aren't..." The man raised his voice again.

"No, you certainly aren't alone. I feel another presence in here."

Both Anna and Jeremy shot him a look while he moved his head around fixing his gaze on his surroundings. Then suddenly his gaze landed straight on Anna.

"Well, look! I haven't seen one of your kind in a very long time!" he told her while a cruel face grazed his face. "Boys, show your best side! We have a ghost as a special guest tonight!" he declared with a laugh.

Anna and Jeremy looked shocked at each other before fixing their sight back on his still laughing form.

Jeremy being the first to find his voice again asked him "You can see her?"

The man stopped laughing and looked at him. "No, I don't see her." He straightened himself then and walked over to him. Anna moved in front of him as well so that she was standing in the middle of both men now. Shortly before moving into her the foreign man stopped looking Jeremy right into his eyes.

"I can't see her, no. But as being a very strong wizard for a very long time by now I can feel her." he told Jeremy while lowering his gaze and looking straight at Anna who returned his gaze not quite believing him.

"Jeremy, he's lying! He can't see me! Only you and Bonnie can see me, remember, and that's only because we are connected due to the ritual!" she told him sounding more convinced than she actually was.

The man was still looking right at her and Anna found herself wondering if maybe he can feel her.

_'But how?'_, she wondered. _'He had no part in the ritual! He shouldn't be able to see me... Or maybe he really does? No, it can't be! He's lying! Focus Anna, you have to get Jeremy out of here!'_

The man chuckled. He was still not moving and his gaze was freaking Anna out by then.

_'Or maybe he really can see me?' _

Answering her unspoken questions he lowered his head right down to hers and whispered "Booh!"

* * *

><p>"Keep going! We don't have all the time in the world!" Caroline ordered while dragging her around the mansion not losing her grip on her arm.<p>

"Stop, Caroline! You're hurting me!" Elena pleaded.

"You're exaggerating now. And believe me, me hurting you isn't your biggest problem at the moment. And even if I'm hurting you why should I care? It's not like you are about to live that much longer anyway... So be happy to feel anything as long as you still can." Caroline replied her in a non-caring tone. She didn't even look behind her while they were crossing a lone hallway of the mansion. Everywhere around them screams echoed and Elena could even make out a faint smell of a fire burning.

"But Caroline, don't you see? That isn't you! That's Klaus! He has turned you and Stefan into monsters, into..."

"Into what, Elena? Into vampires?" Caroline ended her sentence while coming to an abrupt halt and turning around to face her. She starred Elena down and Elena became scared not even recognizing her former friends in the least anymore while looking into her eyes which seemed to hold nothing but hatred towards her.

"Well, reality check. We are vampires." she tole her with a cruel smile.

"Care, what do you mean? You have never been like that before!" Elena tried to reason with her.

"That's because I didn't know what I'm capable of or better say what being a vampire means. Where should I have learned it from? Stefan and Damon have both been far to whipped trying to be what perfect little Elena wanted them to be. What is really your problem, Elena? That you are about to die or that none of your knights in shining armor are here to protect you? And let me tell you, one of them isn't even attempting to do so."

"Stefan is just under Klaus' control! He isn't in his right mind! He wouldn't let him do that if he is!"

"Come on, Elena! What did you expect? Stefan to stay the love-struck boyfriend that you want him to be, like forever? To love and to protect you from all the evil things lurking outside in the shadows of the night? Well, just that you know, he is one of those things. And remember, for being with him you have to turn eventually and we all know how you reacted when you had the chance to do so. No, you didn't want this. And why? Because you want the perfect relationship, the perfect life with the perfect little children living in a perfect little house, a dog, white-picket fence and all there is. And you know that Stefan won't be able to give that to you. So why do you keep hanging on? Get real, Elena!"

The words hit ground and Elena felt like being smacked across the face. "Stefan...", she began to stammer. "Stefan will... Damon is..."

"So now you start with Damon? That's so typical! One isn't reachable so you go for the other? You know what? You were right when you said that you aren't Katherine, you're even worse. You toy with their emotions just like you want to. And you accuse Klaus for being the bad guy here? Let me tell you, you are even worse! At least he never hides his true ambitions."

"What? You even compare me to Klaus? Caroline, are you listening to yourself? It's me, Elena! We are best friends! Don't you remember that?" Elena tried to reach her with desperation clearly visible in her voice. Her eyes watered as she couldn't believe the accusations Caroline was throwing at her.

"I remember you always being perfect little Elena. I remember the constant feeling of being second-best to you. For everyone even! Everyone chooses you first, Stefan, Damon and even Bonnie!"

Caroline narrowed her eyes at Elena and took a step into her direction as Elena instinctively took one back.  
>"And don't ever try to disgrace Klaus again." she told her in a low growling voice which caused Elena who was backed up against a wall now to shake involuntary.<p>

"Klaus showed me how to overcome that feeling. To become independent. He showed me to claim what should be mine. And he explained me what simple humans should mean to us. They are nothing but food. Minions without meaning. Pathetic, powerless and useless..." She was standing right in front of Elena by now lowering her head so that she looked right in Elena's eyes.

"But don't worry, you won't have to be that for long anymore. Klaus will see to that. And you know what? You humble human beings make me sick."

"If they make you sick how come you don't go searching for equal enemies you can threat?" A voice spoke up behind them.

Both turned into the direction and saw none other than Katherine Pierce standing in front of them, arms crossed across her chest.

"But you're dead!" Caroline exclaimed puzzled.

"Well, for being a vampire, death is a needed circumstance. But you of all people should know that." Katherine replied while smirking back at Caroline. "Caroline, what are you trying to achieve here? To terrify my little doppelganger? I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." she continued, the smirk never leaving her face.

"And why is that? You don't wanna tell me that you developed sudden feelings for her now, do you?"

"Let's just say that I have my reasons. So, this could go the easy or the hard way. Tell me, you want me to finish you fast?"

Elena couldn't believe what took place right in front of her. First she was threatened by one of her best friends and now none other than Katherine stood up for her and tried to protect her?

She heard Caroline chuckle.  
>"You really wanna fight me?" It was more than a statement than being a question. "But fast? Why won't we make it last a while? I have so many ideas of what I ever wanted to do to you. You know what?" Caroline said and after a short silence she continued in a low voice "We are gonna have so much fun together..."<p>

After she said that Elena could see her flash a cruel smile at Katherine which the latter returned and what followed were both of them being on each other in a flash, breaking every furniture positioned in the hallway or better say in their way of killing each other.

**End of Chapter 19**

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><p>Katherine is back. What will happen between her and Caroline? Will Elena get free? Who reached Damon? Why can the wizard see Anna? What will happen to Ty's mother and where is Bonnie?<p>

You wanna know? Tell me! :)

Love and hugs!

Xoxo!


	21. Chapter 20

Hey again!

Thanks again for the reviews and adding the story to story alert and everything! I'm really happy about that! :)

With this chapter there will be about four or five chaps following up to the great finale. Hope you enjoy it!

So, where were we...

The cavalry attacked Klaus' hiding place. But will they be successful? Or will Klaus be able to fight them off? What about Bonnie? Where is she?

What will happen to Anna as the wizard was able to sense her?  
>So many questions! You wanna find out? Then read on! :D<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

"Booh!"

Panic caused Anna to jump back and the next thing she saw or rather felt was a bright light. Somehow the wizard had summoned it and to her it felt as if it would suck the energy roight out of her.

From what appeared to her as a vast distance she could faintly hear Jeremy call out for her but everything seemed to become a blur. She felt herself getting weaker and weaker. As she was convinced to faint into air it suddenly all stopped and she fell on her knees, taking a few unneeded breaths.  
>"Are you okay?"<p>

She looked up and saw Vicki standing upon her. As she looked around she could see the men as ell as the wizards which were standing just moments before now lying on the floor. She looked puzzled back at Vicki again.

"Guess you owe me one now." she told her with a genuine smile.

"Vicki, what... Jeremy began.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know later. But for now we have to get you out of here. Cone on, there are others here to save you. I'll take you to them." she ordered them.

"Did you see Bonnie?" Jeremy wanted to know.

"Yes, don't worry. For now she's fine. But come on, now! We don't have much time!" she told them while looking at the wizard who was slowly regaining consciousness again.

* * *

><p>"You've become pretty strong, I'll give you that." Katherine told Caroline after finding her composure again. Shortly before she had found herself being thrown across the hall, her back crashing against one of the hard walls.<br>"Well, maybe it's because you are pretty weak and pretty old, don't you think?" Caroline retorted with a smirk.

Katherine chuckled. "You little bitch, you wouldn't talk like that if it wouldn't be for this little sapphire hanging from your neck."

"Think so?"

"Know so. Why don't you take it off and we'll see how you'd act without the pretty little thing?"

"Well... Let me think about it..." Caroline responded, leaning her head the side in an act to appear thinking. After a few moments she looked back at Katherine and concluded "No."

"Then you leave me no other way than to rip it off."  
>"I'd like to see you try..."<p>

And with that the fighting continued. Unknown to both of them there weren't three people around anymore as Elena used the opportunity to run off as soon as she could.

* * *

><p>"Please, let me go! I'm of no use for you!" Carol Lockwood tried to reason with her kidnappers. After being dragged inside this dungeon, as it appeared to her, she was frightened beyond her mind. To that came that she had no idea where her son was at and she just hoped that she wouldn't find him here.<p>

"Sorry, mam, but we got clear orders. The boss wants you here, so be it." one of her kidnappers replied while gripping more forcefully on her arm in an attempt to keep her going.

Little did they know that they were watched from across.

Tyler and Matt were watching them intensely. Although they weren't talking their minds were twirling around the same topic, how to get Carol out of there.

Frustration was clearly written in Tyler's face upon seeing his mother in such a condition. But suddenly Matt poked him on his arm. As Tyler looked at him Matt moved his head to the side in order to get Tyler to walk back a little. And although Tyler wanted to protest he followed Matt back to where they came from. Midway they met up with Alaric and the others again. As they were far enough away for the kidnappers to hear them Tyler whispered "We have to get her out of here! The others have the power to help themselves a little longer whereas my Mom is absolutely helpless over there!"

"Tyler, I understand you but focus on the mission. Even if we get her out this could endanger our plan. They already know that they are being attacked. We can't just walk right into their arms." Lucy tried to reason with him.

"No, Ty is right! If we don't help her she will die! She has no possibility to fight someone off!" Matt supported his friend."

"But you..." Lucy began but was interrupted by Alaric shortly after.

"How about this: We split up Lucy, you, the vamp and the wolf go on and try to find Bonnie. Matt, Tyler and I will stay back and try to rescue Carol. This way we could at least try to help her without losing up on our plan completely."

He and Lucy shared a look. Determination was written upon his face as well as upon Matt's and Tyler's faces. She could clearly see that there was no use trying to talk them out of it. Therefore she only nodded her head and continued "Okay. But you are on this alone! As much as I want to help you Klaus is more important. We have this unique chance to finish him off and we can't mess up on this."  
>"Alright, we won't. I promise you. As soon as we got Carol out of here we'll get back at you." Alaric told her.<br>After they shared another look Lucy went to move back to their original place, vampire and werewolf following her.

After taking a deep breath Alaric turned back to Tyler and Matt.

"Okay guys, so, what's the plan?"

"I don't know but we just have to save her!" Tyler pleaded.

"I have an idea actually" Matt spoke up successfully getting their attention.

"Well, rule no. 4: Do sports!" he continued earning puzzled looks from the others.

"Ty, remember this one game against Clover Hill High?"

"Yeah..." Tyler responded slowly.

"Situation was like this. There were this three guys we needed to tackle although they were clearly stronger than us. But we made it. And due to what?"

After a few moments of silence and still getting no response at all Matt signed.  
>"Come on, Ty! You were there! Man, it's rule no. 5: Always have a strategy!"<p>

"Matt, my mother is no football, you remember that, right?" Tyler told him.

"I know! And if you'd finally remember the game you'd know that we didn't have to get the ball at all in that situation. We just had to tackle our opponents. And we did."

"Guys, are you serious?" Alaric spoke up, his voice full of doubt.

"It could work..." Tyler began.

"What? Guys, this is a life-and-death-situation, not some football game!"

"Ty, it will work. And even if not, it's the best shot we got right now. So, you in or what?" Matt asked his friend.

And after sharing a look Tyler nodded and with that they turned back to the place where Carol Lockwood was still trying to reason with her attackers.

"Guys, you can't just..." Alaric began but upon witnessing that no one wanted to hear what he had to say he sighed and went along with them.

"Damn those kids. For them it's all just fun and games..."

* * *

><p>"Damon, are you okay?" someone called out to him.<p>

"Bonnie? Is that you?" he asked and moments later he could see her standing in front of him.

"Come on, we have to get the others out of here! And after that I've got a certain hybrid to kill..." he continued while moving to get out of his cell.

"Damon, stop." Bonnie spoke up and put a hand on his arm.

"What is it?" he asked her while giving her a puzzled look. He could clearly see that she was fumbling with herself about something unknown to him and continued "Again: What is it? I'm sorry, but we don't have much time for smalltalk."

"Damon, listen. You will help the others but not this way." she began.

_'What's this? I'm finally free and now this?'_ he asked himself.

"Judgy, I know you're a witch and all that stuff but this is not the time to speak in riddles."

"I will sent you back in time." she told him then with a determined look on her face.

"I'll sent you back to when the ritual took place. You will go there and stop yourself from rescuing Caroline and Tyler and you'll stop yourself from giving Elena your blood as well as John sacrificing himself for her."

"What? Have you lost your mind?" Damon exclaimed crestfallen.

"I'm sorry but it's the only way. Please don't struggle too much. We only have this one chance as even the attempt will probably cost my life." she explained.  
>"Bonnie, I don't know who put this crap in your head but I promise you that we'll speak about that later. For now we've got to go and save the others." he stopped her and went to move out of the cell again. But after a few steps he found himself immobile.<br>"What the..." he began but stopped after finding the source for that. Behind him he could hear Bonnie chanting somewhat, probably some ancient language as he couldn't understand one word clearly.  
>"Bonnie, stop it! Whatever it is you're doing it's wrong!" he tried but without success as Bonnie just continued her chanting.<p>

He felt himself being lift up a little although his feet didn't lose contact to the ground. Everything around him began shaking.

"Bonnie, stop!" he everything but screamed. And then there was this light around him, blinding his sight as it seemed to come from all around him. He felt himself being pulled at from all around him without making out a single person to do so. Bonnie's chanting fainted in the distance as a throbbing pain welled up inside of him.

As it became unbearable he screamed out and little did he hear Bonnie do the same.

Shortly after he found himself on the ground. The pain stopped, the light was gone and he heard nothing. After a few moments he jumped back up again and found himself back in the cell, Bonnie lying motionlessly on the ground in front of him.

"I hope she won't be mad at me for it later on..." he heard a female voice behind him and as he turned towards her he saw a woman which slightly resembled Bonnie standing right in front of the cell. To add the weirdness to the already freaked up situation Damon found himself in another vampire and a werewolf were standing right behind her.

"You must be Damon." she acknowledged him.

_'Well, isn't this day full of surprises...'_

**End of Chapter 20**

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><p>What will happen to Carol? Will Ty and Matt be able to save her? Who will win? Katherine or Caroline?<p>

Where is Elena? Will she be able to reach out and bring back the Stefan we all know and love?  
>Is Bonnie okay? What is the big plan?<p>

What do you think? :)

I'm planning on updating the story in a short while as I just need to edit the next chapter and will put it online shortly after. :)

Till next time!

Love and hugs!

Xoxo!


	22. Chapter 21

Hey there! :)

Editing took a little longer than expected...

Chap 21 is here now. It's a rather short chapter in comparison to the other ones but I hope you'll like it the same as the others. :D

Please review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

Once upon a time Stefan had been independent. He was a person of his own free will. He didn't give a crap about other people and the possibility that one would have control over him again never once crossed his mind. After his father, his brother and later on Katherine he promised himself to never bow down to others again. Why should he? Nothing good came from it. It only led him to being a vampire, killing his own father and breaking his bond with his brother.

Being on his own he did what he always wanted, traveling the world doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.

But everything changed after he returned back to where it all began over 150 years ago. Shortly after arriving in Mystic Falls things were changed. She changed them. The girl who was an exact replica of the girl he fell in live with back in the 1860s.

At first he thought he imagined things. But no, after taking a few more glances he was confirmed that there really was a girl resembling Katherine in a way that shocked him to say the least. But it still wasn't her. Instead of being ruthless and only after her own goals most of the time this one, Elena, was everything he once wished to find in Katherine. She possessed the qualities Katherine only showed in really rare moments: compassion, trust, love...

And then he fell again. Doing exactly the things he promised himself to never ever do again: Bowing down to another one's wishes. After one and a half century he was not the receiving but the serving one again. He changed himself for her in hope that she will return his love. And it took Klaus to make him realize that.

Looking back now he could almost laugh about it. He was foolish believing that she would ever do what he wanted her to, to accept him and to love him the way he loved her. He changed himself where as true love actually means to be accepted for who you are. But she would never do that. If he would have given it more meaning he should have seen that concerning Elena's behavior towards Damon in the beginning. As Damon is a vampire and therefore acted accordingly Elena was never okay with that. They only mended their problems and created a friendship as he changed himself and therefore made the same mistake he did: He bowed down to her.

But those times seemed long gone. Stefan knew now who and what exactly he was: a vampire, a creature of the night. He's a predator where as she should be his prey. But still he couldn't find in in his heart to harm her, at least not more than needed.

To say he felt nothing as he saw her in the library would be a lie. She looked up at him with those big brown eyes, full of hope. And for a moment his first instinct was to justify this hope and move to her rescue. But then a voice in his head asked him why, why should he. Didn't he learn from anything?

Shortly after joining Klaus' side in order to save his brother's life he began to hear this voice every now and then. At first he thought that it was a side-effect from adjusting back to being a ripper. But after a few days he noticed that every time the voice appeared the sapphire began to shine. He connected the dots and after a little research on his own he found his suspicion confirmed as the voice really belonged to the rock.

In one of Klaus' books he read that the sapphire's were constructed to influence one's will. They replace one's consciousness and therefore were able to change the way one acted.

At first he was enraged as he was controlled yet again by another being, so he took it off.

But after a few moments in silence there was this incredible feeling of being overwhelmed by something he didn't know. After a very long time he felt scared and alone again. He fell on his knees as an invisible force seemed to push him down as a heavy weight felt like being set upon his shoulders. He grabbed the chain with the sapphire again and the feeling went away. He felt at peace again as the voice smoothed his nerves. _'Don't worry, I'm here for you. As long as you have my with you, nothing bad will happen. You'll be strong and powerful...' _the voice told him back then.

And although he promised himself to not bow down again he found himself not even caring in this case. He was okay with the fact of being commanded by Klaus as it was a needed meaning to save his brother. And although the control of the sapphire was different from that he could clearly see the possibilities. The power, the ease... And in that moment Stefan came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, bowing down could be indeed a good thing.

And in this moment, on his way down to get his brother to bring him to Klaus and although fully understanding that this could be his brother's end he felt okay with that. It was easy. He would set things right again. If it wasn't for him and his foolishness those many years ago Damon would probably never have been turned into a vampire. And although Damon acted like he wouldn't care for a thing in the world most of the time Stefan knew better. He knew that it pained him back then to find out about Katherine's relationship with his younger brother and therefore being the second choice again. And he saw the longing in his eyes every time he looked at Elena, fully knowing that he was yet again the second choice. As he'd still been human he always spoke about having a family of his own, being a better father than their own one ever could be, and thanks to Stefan Damon was ripped of this. It was all Stefan's fault but after this night would end things would be right again. Damon would no longer suffer. He owed him to set an end to his misery.

* * *

><p>"You guys are seriously out of your freaking minds!" Alaric protested in a whisper as Matt and Tyler went further ahead the floors. On their way they gave more and more details about their own plan of action and it became apparent that even Alaric had his own little part in rescuing Mrs. Lockwood.<p>

"It's really easy. First you shot down the guy holding her. Then the only thing you have to do is taking a hold on her as soon as we tackle down the other two guys." Matt whispering back at him without even looking behind him.

"Those other two guys are vampires as a matter of fact! Tyler as a werewolf could take one down perhaps but you on the other hand don't have such powers!" Alaric tried to reason with Matt.

"That brings me to rule no. 6 on 'How to survive in Mystic Falls'."

"Could you please stop that?"

"Don't ever let the moment of surprise pass you by!"

"Now I know that you really lost your mind, Matt." Alaric told him with a sigh.

"Alaric please!" Tyler spoke up then and turned to face him with a pleading look. "We have to at least try it! She is my mother!" Alaric took a look at him first and then at Matt. And after seeing the determination visible on both faces he came to the conclusion that even if it wasn't the best plan it was their only plan for now. And due to the fact that there were still chaos and fire all around them every moment counted.

"Okay guys, let's go." he told them and with that moved to get a better hold on his gun.

Together they returned in silence to where Mrs. Lockwood still struggled against her captors. All three of them exchanged a look in the shadows that shielded them from the captor's looks and nodded their heads. Alaric's hand went to release the safety catch.

"Hey, did you hear that?" one of the captors spoke up while moving his head from side to side. "There is someone..." he continued and turned his head into the direction of the guys.

Alaric raised his gun as slowly as the speaking captor went to cross the distance between them.

He came nearer and nearer and Alaric knew that the perfect moment to step out of the shadows would come every second. _'Just another few steps...'_ he thought to himself. _'That's good, come to me... Three... Two... One...'_ His finger was about to pull the trigger all the way as suddenly...

"Mrs. Lockwood?"  
>Everyone turned to the side to see Elena coming out of the shadows suddenly. For a moment no one moved but then the captor that stood near Alaric and the others just moments before jumped on Elena and threw her to the ground with him.<p>

"Elena!" Matt yelled and ran out of the shadows without thinking and was tackled to the ground by another one of the vampires. The vampire still holding Mrs. Lockwood renewed his grip on her and hold her to him with his arm thrown around her throat, making it hard for her to breath.

Now both, Tyler and Alaric, moved out of the shadows, too. Tyler moved to help Matt as Alaric aimed his gun at the vampire attacking Elena.

"Stop right there!" a voice Alaric knew far to well for his liking spoke up. All of them froze in their movements and turned to the left. Out of the shadows came none other than Klaus himself.

"Look what the cats brought in." he said with a cruel smile.

Out of instinct Alaric raised his gun and aimed at him but Klaus moved up his right index finger and moved it from side to side. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." he told him and added a cold laugh.  
>"Alaric!" he could hear Elena whimpering and after turning he saw that she was hold up in a similar position as Mrs. Lockwood with the vampire holding her having his fangs near her throat. He looked around and saw Matt hold captive like that as well so now only Tyler and him stood free. Then three more minions of Klaus appeared and Alaric knew that his chances to save the four of them just fell down below zero.<p>

**End of Chapter 21**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

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><p>Damon was a reasonable vampire. Well, at least if he tried, not that he'd ever try that hard to be honest. But he liked to think of himself as reasonable.<p>

He knew that witches could be useful alliances now and then. Magic was inherited within families. Therefore being on good terms with one of them always held a good chance that the whole family in the back could be a good backup. But still they were a potential threat as one could never be sure that the witch won't turn her magic on the vampire once she's tired of him. And a whole bunch of deathly spells was nothing one would like to deal with at all.

But what he'd never thought about was that the witches within the family would attack each other! But that's exactly what just happened.

Bonnie was still knocked out cold on the ground but luckily Damon could still register her heart beating and her small but even breathing. He would have been at Bonnie's side by now but for now the persons in front of him could be a great danger for all he knew. So he stood his ground standing between Bonnie and the newcomers, his head filled more with questions than ever before.

"Why do you know my name? Who are you?" he asked her, his voice sounding angered.

The woman in front of him sent him a warm smile and went to speak as suddenly Jeremy appeared behind them.

"Bonnie!" he shrieked and pushed his way through the three others to get inside the cell. He took her in his arms and shook her a little to which he received a groan coming from her. "Damon, what happened?" he asked as he moved his head to look him in the eyes. Just now he seemed to remember the other persons standing in front of him. "And who are they?" He shot them an accusing look and his voice held suspicion.

"We are here to help you." the woman began to explain. "I had to stop her before she would have brought herself and the rest of us in grave danger. But she was already far too deep so I had to stop her with magic. Don't worry, she's fine and will wake up within a couple moments."

Another loud explosion could be heard somewhere near them, to which the woman displayed a stern look on her face before continuing in a firm voice.

"Listen, I will tell you all you need to know later on. But for now, we have to leave as fast as possible! Outside there are..."

But before she could say another words one of her companions flew through the room and was hit the wall across. Damon could literally hear his spine breaking and knew there was no help for him. Alarmed Damon looked back again and saw the other companion falling to the ground, a big stake being flogged in his back. Upon turning around the woman than screamed and fell to the ground all the while holding her head in her hands. Although he couldn't quite comprehend what went on in that moment he kind of thought about it resembling what he must have looked like whenever Bonnie caused him another aneurism. It wasn't long before she lost consciousness and fell next to Bonnie.

"Going somewhere?" a voice could be heard in front of them. And as Damon looked up again he saw none other as Stefan right in front of him, his eyes blank accompanied by a cruel smirk on his face. And with him about ten of Klaus minions standing right behind him.

* * *

><p>"I must say that beating you up is quite some fun but after a while it becomes kind of boring.", Caroline told Katherine while standing upon her groaning form lying on the ground. Beating the crap out of here was fun as hell. She liked being the superior one in their little fight, remembering only too good being the helpless little girl Katherine smothered with a pillow.<p>

"You're no challenge for me. In fact you're kind of pathetic lying there. And that's why I'll end it here if you don't mind. I've got more important things to do." she continued while turning to the left in order to leave.

"Yeah, go back to Klaus and be his perfectly willing little minion." Katherine spat after her while moving to get up from her position on the floor, leaning on the next wall for support. One could hear bones snapping back into places in combination to matching groans from Katherine herself. "But I promise you that no good will ever come from that! He has a tendency to grow tired of his minions really fast. So to say, the clock is ticking. And your time is running out fast."

"Well, given the circumstances your time is running out faster. Seriously, what's your problem? As far as I know you ran away as fast as you could as you were set free from Klaus' grip. So why are you lurking around here right now? Do you just need to stir as much chaos as possible and be the constant offender? Is that some kind of fetish you have?" Caroline called back upon turning around again, shooting her a spiteful glare.

"Maybe if you would think a little bit more, Blondie, you would find that it isn't me being the offender here!"Katherine tried to reason with her, her voice heavy with accusition.

"Don't call me that!" Caroline shot back at her.

"Call you what? Blondie? Why? Because Damon called you that? Damon, one of your friends? Friends you vowed to protect once? Friends you sold out so fast to their worst enemy? You have any idea what he will do to them?"

"Stop it!" Caroline yelled at her, her anger increasing even more with every word Katherine said.

"Well, how about I call you superficial? Or shallow? Or just plain dumb?" she all but screamed back at her.

"You know, I never understood just why Damon hooked up with you for a long time! But now I see it clearly! It's the same reason why Klaus chose you to do his dirty work! You are far too easy to be manipulated and you never question anything that doesn't fit into your view!"

"That's rich coming from the person who manipulated this two guys who loved her dearly in a blink of an eye! Drop the act of being so much better than me! No one here is buying any of it!" she shot back, feeling the anger literally boiling in her veins. But by now something else also gained more space within her. Doubt. Not the doubt concerning Katherine words but doubt concerning her own actions. As much as she hated it, she asked herself those questions as well sometimes. But not for long as those thoughts went as quickly as they came, leaving her with this big blur in her mind and sometimes with some kind of nausea which was getting her more and more curious as vampires weren't supposed to get nausea at all.

"I maybe manipulated them but I never sold them out once! And I never lied to them in the first place! But you do! You wanna know who the worst person of the two of us is right now? Well, look in the mirror!"

"At least I'm not a cold blooded murderer! I'm not the one who goes around smothering helpless humans in hospitals!"

"Oh, you're still angry at me for pushing that pillow a little bit to hard on your face?" Katherine asked her, heavily mocking her. "You know what? I'm so sorry for that. The right decision would have been that I had waited till Damon's blood was fully out of your system!"

"You know what? You were the one who killed me back then. And now I'm the one to kill you!" And with that being said she lunged at Katherine ready to rip out her heart as another voice called out to them, making her stop dead in her tracks.  
>"Caroline, stop!"<p>

As both girls looked into the direction the voice was coming from they could see Klaus being at the end of the hallway coming over to them with long and fast strides.

Unwillingly Katherine froze at the sight of him and wanted to run away on instinct but found herself not being able to move at all, fear almost consuming her. So she had no other choice to stay there and wait for the inevitable to happen. She was absolutely convinced that this would be it. After hundred of years of running from this monster it all came to an end in this moment as she would find her end at his hands.

"Klaus, what..." Caroline began but was stopped by Klaus lifting his hand to her face as he stood right in front of her. He stroked her cheek for a moment and said "Don't worry, love. She will get what's coming to her. But for now you will have to stop or else you will miss out all the fun, love."

"So, it's time?" she asked him with an quiver voice which sent a shudder down Katherine spine.

"Yes, it's time."Klaus responded with a smile. "So go and get changed. I believe you want to be dressed appropriately for the occasion, darling."

"And you," he continued while turning around to Katherine and moved in front of her. Fighting the urge to panic Katherine concentrated and tried to keep herself together. And although she knew that the chances were low she decided to fight him. If this would be her end she sure as hell wouldn't go down with a fight. So as he was right in front of her she suddenly lunged herself at him, hoping to make the best out of the moment of surprise. But it was short-while as Klaus moved to fast for her eyes to see and before she could connect with his body he had his hands around her throat and sent her back into the wall she was standing in front of. And though her hope was decreasing every second she still struggled against his hold for what it was worth. But all she received was a cold laugh coming from the man in front of her. She shot him a hateful look and was about to at least scream in his face as he looked into her eyes and she could see his eyes dilating.

"You," he continued with a low voice "will sleep for a while. But don't worry, I will wake you when your time's come. I wanna see the look in your eyes when it all goes down..."

And with that Katherine felt herself lose control over her body and her vision blurred. She felt him letting go of her and herself connecting with the hard floor beneath her. The last thing she heard was a cruel laugh coming from Caroline as everything around her turned black.

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><p><strong>End of chapter 22<strong>


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

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><p>"Why didn't he go for me?"<p>

Bonnie shot up alarmed at that. Startled she spotted Caroline sitting opposite her, clearly drunk an desperate.  
>"What?" Bonnie replied, trying to make sense of the situation. The last thing she remembered was herself trying to send Damon back in time. But what happened? But now? People ran alongside them sitting in a booth at... the Mystic Grill? Clearly confused she took a look around and found her suspicion confirmed. She was indeed at the Grill with Caroline nonetheless, in a scene fairly familiar to her.<p>

"You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?" Caroline continued, her voice trembling and heavy with sobs.

Bonnie remembered this conversation. It was right before this whole mess started. Stefan had just appeared in Mystic Falls. Did she send herself back? Taking a look around she found none other than Damon looking over at them. So Damon was already in Mystic Falls as well? Or was he the Damon from their time and Bonnie send them both back in time? But it wasn't the point in time he was supposed to be!

"Care, why are we here? We've got to get back! We've got to save Elena and the others!" Bonnie found herself answering her. "Klaus has them somewhere in the woods! I don't know how much time we've left! Let's get Damon and save them!"

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And... Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and... I'm never the one." Caroline just continued, seemingly not even listening to Bonnie.  
>To her astonishment the scene appeared to just kind of replay itself. A horrible feeling crept up her spine. Something must have gone completely wrong.<p>

"I told you this before and I'll say it again: It's not a competition, Caroline!"  
>"Yeah, it is." she just replied stubbornly and burrowed her head in her hands.<p>

"Damon!" Bonnie yelled across the room as she stood up and made her way over to him. Maybe he'd know what the hell was going on. "Damon!" she yelled at him again, by now standing directly in front of him. But he didn't even acknowledged her. It seemed as if he didn't even see her! To make things more disturbing he was crooking a smile and raised his glass alluringly at Caroline!

Then she heard another pair of familiar voice coming from across the room. Matt and Tyler just entered the grill, joking around and smiling appreciatively at every girl which crossed their way. "Matt! Tyler!" Bonnie cried over, clearly desperate by now. But even those two did nothing to indicate that they even registered her!

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, her voice nothing more than a faint whisper.

"Bonnie."

Startled Bonnie turned around and came face to face with a person she would never have thought to see again.

"Gramps?" she gasped.

"My dear, you must be pretty confused by now. Come with me. I will try to enlighten the situation." she told her and held out her hand for Bonnie to take it. More confused than ever Bonnie took hold of her hand and jumped a little as she could really feel the flesh of her grandmother's hand. And somehow the confusion subsided as well as the bad feeling and even the fear which slowly welled up in her before. She even felt save. Her grandmothers hand hold her smaller one in a tight but loving grip. And that's exactly what she felt inside by now. Loved and protected.  
>She felt herself being pulled away from the scene and to her further astonishment the whole scene changed.<p>

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><p>"Elena!" she could hear herself being called from the distance. "Elena, wake up!" the voice grew more urgent and louder, waking her from her state of oblivion. Slowly she opened her eyes, quickly closing themselves again as a searing pain shot through her. Her arms were held up high over her head, her muscles burning and her shoulders felt dislocated. "Elena!" the voice called again. Breathing hard she willed herself to open her eyes again and was shocked by what she saw. Right in front of her, chained up to enormous big wooden stakes were her friends lined up next to each other. Bonnie and Jeremy built the center, left from them were Alaric, Damon and Katherine, on their right side Matt, Tyler and a woman she didn't recognize but which held a striking resemblance to Bonnie, just older. From the looks of it Bonnie, Damon, Katherine, Alaric and the strange woman were knocked out.<p>

"Thank God, you are alive!" she heard the voice again and recognized it as coming from Jeremy. He was struggling with the bounds which tied his arms around the stake on his back.

Elena felt fear welling up deep inside herself. "Jer, what happened?" And then the memories flooded back to her. She remembered herself running from Klaus, Stefan and Caroline and coming face to face with a few vampires which held Mrs. Lockwood as well as Alaric, Matt and Tyler. And then they were attacked. The rest was only a blur.

"You were knocked out pretty bad by one of Klaus' minions. You had us worried for a moment." Matt's kind voice could be heard from across the room. Looking at him she shuddered involuntary. He struggled with the ties as well and was in a bad shape. A big gush was visible on his head and his clothes were ripped and bloodied. Tyler next to him looked similar but opposite to Matt he was quiet and looked almost broken, keeping his gaze on the floor. Following his example Elena looked at the floor as well and saw a big haystack right under their stakes. "Oh my God..." Elena exclaimed in nothing more than a whisper. What was Klaus trying to do? Was he trying to burn them?

* * *

><p>Being dolled and pampered up was what Caroline loved the most. After Klaus stopped her from finishing off Katherine for good he sent her upstairs to prepare for what to come. He'd even had the courtesy to present her a beautiful golden and black sequined strapless cocktail dress from the Oscar de la Renta just for the occasion. Seeing her astonishment as she recognized the dress from one of the fashion runway magazines she always ordered as well as the fortune one must spent for this he just told her that nothing was in equal measure to what he would achieve tonight.<p>

Okay, maybe it was a bit macabre that the special occasion involved the death of her friends... No, former friends, she corrected herself. Thanks to Klaus she was finally able to see just what a farce her former live had been. She called people her friends which were the reason she was turned into a vampire in the first place. People who only enlightened her in their secrets only after the damage had been done. And even after she became a vampire they still treated her like a dumb child, keeping her strength low by not training her and making her drink from animals.

And the last push she needed to see things clearly was the fact that even after Damon tortured and almost killed her her so called friends still stuck with him! They just used her whenever needed and pushed her away as soon as possible. Well-known rage built up inside herself again and Caroline balled her hands into fists. She was standing in the middle of a big room, her dress on, her hair done, looking in a big mirror across from her.

"Love, calm yourself down." Klaus spoke to her as he appeared behind her suddenly. He took a step nearer and laid both his hands on her shoulders, gently squeezing them in a reassuring measure. "I got you this dress specifically for the occasion tonight. But looking at you no one would guess that it is in fact a celebration taking place."

Klaus was right, she decided. She needed to calm herself down. To that she closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. "That's right, my dear. Don't let yourself be guided by former troubles. By the end of the night all those things will disappear, believe me." Klaus spoke on while replacing his hands with feather-light kisses.

If someone explained this current situation to her only a few months ago she would have freaked. After all Klaus was the big bad evil everybody should fear. And at first fear was exactly the emotion she connected with him. But things changed. And by now his voice sent a soothing warmth through her whole body.

No, she decided. She wouldn't let this whole mess get the best of her. Even more, she wouldn't let this people have the satisfaction of seeing her being hurt by their behavior. That's just what they want. No, she would go in there and smile upon their downfall. Just as they deserved. And with that she opened her eyes again which had turned dark while her face didn't alter a bit. Upon looking herself up and down once more in the mirror she couldn't help but feel appreciated by her reflection. By now she had great control over her vampiric traits which caused a winning smile on her face, the blue diamond flashing brightly.

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><p><strong>End of Chapter 23<strong>


	25. Chapter 24

**Hey there! I know, it had been far too long! But I hope the chapters were worth the wait! After all, I promised to finish the story! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

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><p>His head hurt like hell. Had someone run him over with a truck? At least he felt like it. His whole body agonized in pain, his head was throbbing and he could seriously use some blood by now. He felt drained and even more out of place than before. With his eyes still closed he tried to stretch his body but found himself being unable to do so. Groaning to himself he reminded himself of the situation he was in. Should he open his eyes and find out in what fucked-up mess he was in now? Nah, he thought to himself. He decided against it. He would literally hang in here and endure whatever there is to come.<p>

After Stefan's frst visit in his cell he had some hope that things would somehow turn out maybe not perfectly for them but well nonetheless. But this hope was crashed upon Stefan and his entourage arriving at his cell and knocking out Jeremy as well as the strange woman and her follower. Stefan had this twisted sick smirk on his face as if he would enjoy the situation. And then as he noticed Damon starring at him he just crossed the cell and knocked him out cold. Now that was an absolute unhealthy brotherly relationship, he thought to himself.

So what the effort of taking in his surrounding and boiling his blood up in anger again? For him the fight was over. Even though the thought of beating the crap out of Klaus was still somewhat appealing he had lost the fight already. He had seen it in his eyes. Stefan, the kind, trusting, little brother of him was gone. All what's left was an empty corpse filled with Klaus imaginations of what's right and what's not. A decal, an empty shell, nothing more, nothing less.

His ears picked up the desperate voices of Jeremy, Matt and mostly Elena who still tried to find ways to get out of this.

"Maybe... I don't know! Maybe if I could talk to Stefan one more time!" Elena reasoned with the others. "Elena, stop it." Damon murmured, more or less to himself.

"He's still the same deep down! He must be! And I just know that he would save us!" she continued.

"Elena..." he spoke up again, louder this time.

"Damon, I know him! He's still the same! I know it!"  
>"I said stop it!" he more that roared by now, the anger slowly building up in him.<p>

"But Damon? Did you already gave up on him? He is your brother!" she pressed on, her voice heavy with tears.

"Don't you dare!" he growled back, flashing deep dark eyes angrily at her. How dare she telling him she knew his brother better than him.  
>"Damon! He is still your brother! Don't you see that?"<p>

"My brother is gone!" he roared, his mind clouded, his whole body overpowering with rage. If the ties behind his back weren't soaking with vervain he'd probably have ripped them apart by now and destroyed the whole place. "How dare you speak to me like that! You are one to talk! If it wouldn't be for you none of us would be in this mess!"

"But... Damon..." she began looking crestfallen.

"It's true! You were the downfall for all of us! I just wish we wouldn't never have crossed paths for Stefan's sake!"

"What do you mean? I'm responsible for this? I never wanted something bad to happen to any of us especially Stefan! I love him!"

"And what a love that is! Your 'love' is the one thing that kept Stefan in Mystic Falls! And what did it lead him to? He's a doll, hanging on the strings Klaus plays. And why is Klaus here? Only because he found out that you are still alive! If you'd just have died..." he threw at her but didn't finish his sentence as another voice interrupted him.

"Stop it immediately! Both of you!" It was the woman both Damon and Elena didn't recognize. At some point of their fight she must have regained consciousness again. "Don't you see that this is exactly what Klaus wants? You fighting against each other? Ripping each other as well as yourselves apart from the insides?" She shot an accusing glance at both of them. No one responded to that and silence spread in the room.

Somewhere deep inside of him Damon knew that he was being unreasonable and selfish. But his mind was overtaken with memories of him and his brother from when they were still alive. Memories of how he vowed to protect his little brother from anything that may come up. And what happened? He blew his promise up as soon as Katherine stepped inside their lives. And after she was gone he was bitter and in despair and had vowed to make Stefan's life, even as an undead one, a living hell. And just as he'd come to the point of getting into contact with him again he blew it all for a girl yet again! And not just one, a carbon copy of Katherine nonetheless. And all this time he thought that Stefan was the responsible one for everything bad that had happened to him. But Stefan had been a real brother all along which struck Damon only a short time ago when Stefan told him about the circumstances of their father's death. But now the chance to repay his brother was gone forever. Stefan was gone. And what lead to this part? Nothing else but Damon's stubbornness and a selfish emotion concerning Elena as well as Katherine before her.

The silence continued, none of them dared to talk. Elena slumped back against the chains holding her, taking Damon's words and acquisitions to her heart. Matt and Jeremy were overcharged with everything and Tyler seemed motionless as he still did nothing but keeping his gaze on the ground.

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><p><strong>Back with Bonnie:<strong>

"You see where we are?" Sheila Bennett asked her grandchild upon arriving in front of a big mansion somewhere deep in the woods.

"No, I don't. Where are we, Grams? What's going on?"

"This is the place where you and your friends are taken hostage in."

"What?" Bonnie yelped, casting a startled look on the mansion. She hadn't seen this place ever before even though she grew up near the woods her whole life.

"We ware... Wait a sec, what do you mean where we are taken hostage in? But I'm standing outside here! With you! And... But this..." Bonnie reasoned a little, a shocking worry creeping up inside of her. With a shaken voice and wide eyes she asked her then "Am I dead?"

A small laughter greeted her question, confusing Bonnie even more.

"Of course you aren't dead, my dear. You are just very far off at the moment given the actions you tried to set in motion.

"What do you mean? The time-travel?" Shortly before Bonnie found herself opposite Caroline in the Grill she tried to sent Damon back in time to change certain things. A shudder crept through her remembering what she told or better say ordered him.

"You see, time is a very relative thing. It is fluent and continuing. As old as ever but still present as everything. But it's still a rather fragile construct and every change, as small as it may be, can have severe consequences. We witches may be blessed with powers but we are to respect and protect the world, nature and time as it ever was. There is a reason why witches who perform a time-altering spell almost everything pay with their lives. The space-time continuum will be changed and the death of the causer is a kind of compensation." Sheila explained.

"I know that. And I was ready to pay the price." Bonnie stepped in.

"I know your reasons were serene, Bonnie. But did you know that not only your life in this time had been taken but your whole existence had vanished?"  
>Bonnie blinked a little, too confused to get what her grandmother tried to tell her.<p>

"It would have been like you'd never have been born. Imagine a world without Bonnie Bennett. Your friends growing up without you. Do you think that your non-existence would have given them a better opportunity in life? You would just have vanish. And I couldn't let that happen. That's why I sent Lucy to you."

"Lucy?" Bonnie remembered Lucy from back when she met her at the Lockwood mansion. She made a deal with Katherine back then but left as soon as Bonnie explained the story behind Katherine's action to her. But as far as she knew Lucy had left Mystic Falls and never returned.

"Lucy was the one who stopped you from sending Damon back in time. She was contacted by Katherine so she knew exactly where to find you."

"Katherine?" Bonnie exclaimed. Things just got more and more confusing with every sentence her grandmother spoke. "No, that couldn't be! Why would Katherine try to contact her if not for some dangerous and selfish reasons? And Lucy knows that! She wouldn't just help Katherine except maybe..." she stopped short as realization hit her.

"Why do you think Lucy took Katherine serious?" Sheila asked her while flashing her a knowing smile.

"... Except maybe someone told her to. Someone she trusts. Did you?" Bonnie asked her but Sheila didn't answer her, just her smile grew more and more winning.

Then after what felt like an eternity Sheila sighed and told her "That's what family is for, isn't it?"

And with that many people appeared all around them suddenly. Confused and a little scared Bonnie looked around. She recognized none of them but somehow still felt connected to them. As she looked back at her grandmother another woman appeared alongside her. But this time it was a woman she had seen more than enough to recognize her instantly. It was her ancestor, none other than Emily Bennett herself.

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><p><strong>End of Chapter 24<strong>

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? What do you think will happen next? :D<strong>

**Love ahd hugs!  
><strong>


	26. Chapter 25

And it continues...

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><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

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><p>Alaric lost faith a long time ago. Possibly after the death of his wife, Isobel. At least she kind of died as she became a vampire. And as it turned out she even had a daughter, none other than Elena Gilbert, a girl he became a guardian of alongside her brother cousin Jeremy after their aunt Jenna died. Replaying the constellations caused him headache. Things were far beyond what messed up could even begin to describe properly, he decided, and maybe, just maybe, when he opened his eyes everything would turn out to be an extreme nightmare. And with this thought in mind he opened his eyes.

_'Nah, maybe not.'_ he said to himself upon seeing the mess they were in now. He didn't even question himself how he had been tied up. To him, there was no use for that now. After arriving in Mystic Falls things had turned from bad to worse. He reached the point where he asked himself what the worth for all of this has been. And upon seeing the faces of his companions he didn't seem to be the only one to ask himself this.

"If we make it out of this alive don't come looking for me the next week or so. I want to properly drink myself into oblivion with some good full bourbon." he said out loud. Jeremy chuckled to that a little but no one said a thing. He looked at Damon who had his lips pressed into a thin line while looking down, his eyes giving his angry state of mind away. But Damon being Damon he was probably more angry at himself than at anyone else. Jeremy looked spent but brave. Matt did the same. Lucy sent him a small smile, trying to make up her state of uncertainty. And Tyler just looked empty.

"Tyler!" he called out to him. "What happened? Did Carol make it out?"

"Carol is here?" Damon asked next to him to which Alaric nodded at him. "Where is she?" Damon asked as well.

"She is gone." Tyler spoke up then. "The vampires brought her away as soon as you all went unconscious. Due to being a werwolf I could hold myself up a little longer but it was without any success. I don't know where she is or if she's even still..." he left the sentence unfinished, too afraid to spell out his suspicions.

"I'm so sorry..." Elena more than whispered to them. "You didn't deserve this. None of you."

He took a goo look at Elena and saw her hunched up across from them, chained to a wall. She looked like a broken doll, shaken up beyond repair, and his heart went out for her. Although she was more or less the cause for all of this she wasn't responsible for it per se. And he knew that. Elena didn't deserve this. So many people died up to now in order to change her seemingly inevitable destiny of dying. Even John sacrificed his life for her. Jenna did, too.

_'Jenna...'_ He remembered how she told him of the time and the circumstances of her becoming their legal guardian. At first she was overcome with all the pain of losing family members and the responsibility of raising two teenagers on her own. But she did it beyond questioning. As well as she died beyond questioning even once. She loved both of them, Elena and Jeremy. And Alaric knew that Elena loaded herself with guilt concerning Jenna's decision as well.

"Elena!" Jeremy began.

"No, Jer, Damon was right. If I'd just have died none of you would be in this mess. It's all my fault."

"Elena, listen. I overreacted when I said that." Damon told her instantly and sighed. "It's just... I feel so powerless. I don't know what to do next. And I took it out on you without any kind of justification." he spoke with a small voice not once lifting his eyes in her direction.

_'Is Damon actually trying to apologizing? Wow, it must be the end of days...' _Alaric thought jokingly to himself.

"Elena, you didn't put us in this situation. None of your actions did. It was all Klaus. He is our enemy not you. And we all know that." Matt chimed in.

"But the things Stefan and Caroline told me earlier that..." she began but was interrupted by Jeremy. "Stefan and Caroline aren't in their right minds. They both love you dearly and you know that."  
>"But how can you be so sure about that, Jer?" Elena tried again.<p>

"Well." Tyler spoke up again, a small smile appearing on his face. "I don't know about you but I got beat up pretty badly by Caroline today. And even though in any kind of other circumstance and maybe a little bit less abusive I'd have found that kind of kinky, I know that it would never even come remotely close to this under normal conditions. This person wasn't Caroline at all. And it is so obvious that I have no problems in not blaming her but blaming the one person being responsible for it, namely Klaus."

"Ty is right, Elena." Matt spoke up again. "It is Klaus responsible for all of this. Not you. You blaming yourself is exactly what he wants.

Tears sprang to Elena's eyes as she was clearly overwhelmed by the kind exclamations from them. "Guys, if we won't make it out of here alive I want you to know that I love you. All of you." A heavy sob followed that coming from Elena.

"And we love you, too." Jeremy said her, an encouraging smile on his face. "And I for one actually plan to get out of this alive."

"Me, too." Matt agreed with him. "Rule No. 27 of 'How to survive in Mystic Falls': If you think death is coming for you, don't open the door!"

"What?" Alaric yelped jokingly.

"Matt, that doesn't make sense." Tyler told him, even laughing a little.

"It does! Okay, normally this rule applies to the case in which a vampire knocks at your door but the message stays the same! Come on, Ty, you get me right?"

"Sorry, buddy, I don't. You're not making any sense at all!" he told them, again a little laugh coming from his lips. And the laugh was contagious as it spread from person to person and kind of lifted the depressed undertone which lingered all around them. Even Damon couldn't help but shaking his head while chuckling a little.  
>It distracted them so much from everything that they didn't even registered the entrance of three other persons followed by a large entourage.<p>

"Well, look what we've got there. Even our hostages seem to get the circumstances that a celebration is about to take place. I'm delighted you enjoyed the stay so far. But I'm afraid your friends couldn't make it. After they found their amusing little try of breaking and entering unsuccessful they fled into all imaginable directions. Some traitors, so flake, don't you think? But don't worry, I promise to all of you that they won't make it far after leaving all of you to your destiny." Klaus spoke out loud, startling all of them.

There he stood in the center of the room, even wearing a suit. Next to him Stefan and Caroline looked as if they were about to attend a festival and not their near funeral. But what shook them all to the core was the winning smile and the stern look in Klaus eyes as he looked upon all of them and said in a threatening voice "Let the party begin."

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><p><strong>End of Chapter 25<strong>

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><p>I know it's rather short, but I thought such a sequence could stand for itself. Did I catch the personal character traits good enough or was it too sentimental in some point? Tell me your opinion!<p>

Only one more chapter to come! What do you think will happen? Was it worth the wait till now? Do you even wanna read it? Tell me! :)

Love & hugs!


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

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><p>"My dear Bonnie, I am pleased to finally meet you in person. It is a shame that the occasion is such a terrible one." Emily Bennett said to her while flashing her a reassuring smile.<p>

"What is going on?" Bonnie asked more herself than anyone in particular. The whole situation was far too bizarre for her to get any answers on her own.

"You must have many questions." Emily continued.

"Of course!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Like, why are you here? And who are all the others? And what can I do to help my friends? Klaus is about to kill them and I can't let that happen! Tell me how I can kill Klaus! I have to kill him! Even if it costs me my life in the end!"

Sheila and Emily shared a knowing look to this and took a step nearer to Bonnie. And even though both of them meant family Bonnie couldn't help but feel the instinct of taking a step back as her nerves were on wire.

"My dear, you will not sacrifice yourself for this. This is not what is planned out for you." Sheila told her.  
>"Planned out for me? What are you saying?"<p>

"I can't tell you more. No one is allowed to know the way their life goes. Just know that all of this things happen for a reason. And that sometimes things have to develop without any kind of intervention." Sheila continued.

The other witches all over the place then seemed to surround them in a circle and were drawing nearer as well, giving Bonnie the creeps.

"Who are they?" Bonnie asked upon shooting a glance around.

"They are family, too." Emily told her. "You descend from a long line of powerful witches and great power. In this world there are only few family lines like this. And what matters the most for us is that we have to ensure this line for many more descendants to come."

"So you see that we can't let you risk your life just like that." Sheila went in. "And I wouldn't let that happen for another selfish reason. I've seen you grow up. I hold your little hands from the beginning and replaced your mother when Abby couldn't deal with the responsibility anymore."

"Abby? You mean my mom? Is she here as well?" Bonnie gasped and searched the many faces again until Sheila took hold of her hand. "No, she is not."

"Then where is she?"

"She is still alive, my dear. And believe me, your paths will cross again."

"They will? When?" Bonnie went anxious by now. Not that she and her mother had the best relationship possible or something like that. In fact Bonnie hadn't thought about her mother in a very long time but back when she was still a small child always wondered if she would come back to her again. And probably due to the situation and her ancestors surrounding her like this uncontrollable feelings welled up inside of her.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Back with the others:<strong>_

"Finally we can start the procedures." Klaus began. "But first I have to wake someone up. After all I told her that she wouldn't be left out of all the fun. And I have always been a man of my words." he told them with a sick smile. "Katherine, my dear, rise and shine!" he called upon her.

And as on command, Katherine's body shook and was conscious again. Instinctively she tried to move her arms and panicked a little when she found she couldn't.

"What the hell!" she cried loudly upon taking her surroundings in.

"It is indeed a pleasure to have you with us, Katherine. I hope you give me your approval on calling you by your actual name and not Katerina any longer."

"Go to hell!" she yelled back at him.  
>"I will take that as your consent." Klaus went on, the smile still plastered on his face.<p>

"I regret that our witchy friend is still out but I think that in consideration to the advanced time and slight changes in our schedule I won't hold you up any longer."

"Get over with it already!" Alaric shot at him.

"How rude of you. After all I try to set the mood for you!" he pouted sarcastically.  
>"For setting the mood right you would have to supply loads of bourbon for me and my mate hanging over there which you don't have. So the mood is, was and will be ruined no matter what you are doing." Damon told him nonchalantly.<p>

"I see, you're still up for jokes, mate." Klaus stated as he strolled the room. "I might be interested in how funny you thing is this." And with that two minions appeared alongside him, each holding up a burning torch. "After all, I have been told that the right light is everything."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Somewhere in the mansion:<strong>_

"But we have to do something!" Vicki yelled at Anna as they were standing in another room a few hallways away from the one Elena and the others were kept in.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Anna yelled back at her, equally in volume. If they wouldn't have been ghosts probably all of Klaus minions would have been on them by now.

"But what?"

"I don't know!" Vicky told her. "But I can't just stand here any longer! Jeremy and my brother are in there!"

"But you can't just do that!" Anna reasoned with her.  
>"Really? Watch me!" Vicki spit back and with that being said she turned and simply ran through the wall.<p>

And after a short moment of just standing there and deciding that Vicki surely would be the downfall of them all, Anna followed her.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Back to the others:<strong>_

"As it seems I finally have your full attention by now." Klaus concluded.

A small laugh ran through Klaus minions.

"What you have to know about me is that I am a very proud man. I've come a long way and gained more than anyone could possibly imagine. By now I am the most powerful being walking this earth. The whole procedure of the ritual went accordingly but still something had been off. I haven't even been able to create another hybrid! And I asked myself why. And guess what I found out? The doppelganger which was supposed to die in this ritual actually still walks the earth as a human being, unharmed and still breathing. And I vowed to take revenge. And here we are." he finished flashing them an even crueler smile.

"All of you had a hand in fooling me. I am not a person to b fooled and you all will pay for your actions. One by one I vowed to rip you apart emotionally and I did. And for what to come? I will just burn what is left of you after I am done. And you!" with that he turned to Elena. "You will have the pleasure of watching it all. Of taking it all in. It will be such a pleasure for me to see you crumble to pieces. But don't worry, after all of this I will have none other than your precious Stefan put you out of your misery. I once heard that it is really important for the peace of the soul to see a loving face when one dies. Well, we will try that out, won't we?"

"You are sick!" Damon yelled at him. "I am? No, you are! Love-sick actually! And look where it got you! Tied to a stick, about to be burned down to a crisp. But don't worry, your brother will be right by your side when it takes place. After all, he will be the one to set fire to the hay." A gaps followed to that, coming from Katherine. "Stefan would never do that!" she yelled at him.

"Believe me, he will. I have my ways to get what I want and until now it worked out perfectly. You ever wondered what those sapphires were for?"

"Save your breaths, we already know what they are for!" Lucy told him.

"I assumed so. But did you ever winder why I resorted to this and didn't just compel them?" Silence followed that and our friends looked puzzled.

"Well, as fine as compelling is it turns you into a soulless shell. And after all where is the fun in that? No, it is far more satisfying to see the inner struggle. Being pushed to extreme actions from a force inside of them not from another person forcing their will on them. It was such a pleasure to witness how it changed your friends into the reliable powerful beings they are now." With that Klaus returned back to Stefan and Caroline and threw each an arm across their shoulders, holding them near to him. From this position it was clearly visible that he was drinking in the fear and the uncertainty which welled up inside the room.

"I almost forgot!" he suddenly exclaimed. There are two people left I invited especially for this. Bring them both in!" he ordered to two random minions.

As those two ran out of the room two other sets of voices could be heard.

"Don't you dare touching me!" one voice told his minions of.

"Mom!" Tyler cried. Even though he couldn't see them as they were still outside he would have recognized her voice everywhere. Especially under this circumstances and himself praying that she was still alive somewhere and he would see her again safe and sound.

"Tyler!" The voice cried back and soon the two persons arrived inside the room. In fact there stood none other than Carol Lockwood alongside... Elizabeth Forbes.

"Mom?!" Caroline exclaimed baffled.

"My dear! There you are! Are you okay?" Liz replied to her as if she wouldn't just stand inside a room full of very dangerous vampires and werwolves. "What is she doing here!" Caroline turned around and demanded an answer from Klaus. The ladder just moved forwards and took hold of both of her hands. "But Caroline, I thought you would have wanted her here. And after all you told me that she caused you troubles in the past. And didn't I tell you that all those troubles you had would disappear as soon as the night is over?" he explained her in a way as if he spoke to a little child.

"No..." Caroline gasped as soon as realization hit her. "Please don't! Not my mom! Let me get her out of here! Klaus please! I will do anything!" She even struggled to get away frim him but his firm grip on her hands held her close to him.

"I know that you will do anything I want, love. And I want you to kill her." he went on nonchalantly. "Remember Caroline, I put a lot of effort into your development and you have come so far. But you will never fully change if you still hang on things from the past." Shocked Cdaroline looked at him, her eyes wide and her hands shaking. Unknown to her the sapphire began to glow and her thoughts spiraled inside her head.

_'You know he is right'_ a voice appeared in her head and Caroline found herself slowly agreeing with it. It was even kind of plausible, she found herself thinking. "Have I once told you that I just love how your eyes display exactly what is going in inside this mind of yours?" he told her with a chuckle. And then he trust something metallic inside her hand. A knife as she realized upon looking at it. She looked back at Klaus and flashed him a small smile. She knew just what she had to do. But as if she just awoke from a deep sleep Caroline came back to her senses and being fully alarmed threw the knife across the room. "Oh my God! What am I doing here? I can't kill my own mother!" she cried more to herself than to anyone else. With that Klaus forcefully got hold of her chin and turned her face to his. "You can and you will. I promised you once that I won't compel you. Don't make me break it, Caroline!" "No, I won't!" she shot back at him. To that Klaus took a hard grip on her arms, his knuckles almost white from the force. "Stop it, you are hurting me!" Caroline cried.

"Caroline!" both Elena and Damon cried out to her. For the first time since all of this happened a peek of the old Caroline they all knew came forward. "The enchanted sapphires don't seem to be powerful enough to break the familiar bonds the wearer has!" Lucy explained to them and Damon felt hope inside of him rising up. Maybe, if Caroline cpuld break through that brainwash, his brother could, too.

Klaus listened to all of this slowly gathered himself again. He let loose of Caroline again even. "I am sorry, love. I had not intentionally wanted to hurt you." He told her in a gently voice. While shooting her a charming smile. And then the sapphire blazed up again and Caroline found herself smiling at him. "I know that. You just overreacted a little bit."

"Care!" Elena gasped but Caroline didn't even acknowledge her one little bit.

"Caroline, don't be stupid! You don't really mean that!" Tyler chimed in.

"He's right, Care! Don't let him fool you!" Matt supported him.

"Stop it! As if you were any better than him!" Caroline told them off.  
>"What? What are you saying! Do you even listen to yourself?" Tyler went on.<p>

"If you believe it or not I do. And I haven't listened to myself for a long time. Klaus made me realize that my life depended more on you and your wishes than my own!" Silence and unbelieving looks followed this. But Caroline didn't flinch one bit. She just stood there next to Klaus with a stern and determined look on her face while Klaus face flashed them a cruel smirk.

"Caroline, just think about it! Since when do you let yourself be told what to do and what to think? Your friends didn't do that just once!" Damon began to reason with her.

"That is so rich coming from you! Weren't you the one who compelled me when I was still human?"

"I know what I did and I know that it hadn't been right. But this was a long time ago, Caroline. Remember, we have put this behind us!"  
>"You maybe put this behind you but I certainly didn't! It was all a display of you and the power you have over me. And even if I thought that you had changed it was clearly presented false by your actions not even two weeks ago!"<p>

"Care, this wasn't me! I was compelled! Klaus compelled me!"

"What? Klaus compelled you? To do what? To torture me? How can you lie like this and expect me to believe this? Klaus was the one who actually saved me back then! And from this day on he has been nothing but kind to me! He took responsibility for me, taught me how to fight and how to hunt! Things you never did! I would even go as far as saying that he is the true sire I never had!"

That comment would certainly blew the air out of his lungs if he would actually still be breathing Damon thought to himself. Okay, he probably hadn't been the best sire ever but being replaced by Klaus? That crossed a line! By now not only he was angered but his demonic side as well as it's anger built up more and more inside of him,

"He did! And if I had wanted to finish you off all along why did I save you from Jules and her pack back then? And from Tyler biting you? I threw you out of the way and took the bite myself! I saved you without even thinking twice!"

Doubt displayed itself on Caroline's face as she shot him a puzzled look. Even though he wouldn't bet on this Damon lied to believe that he had gotten through to her. Even Klaus shot a curious look from her to him and back again.

And then Klaus spoke up again. "Well, Damon, thank you for the display of your unsuccessful mind games but we have a tight schedule to follow. And I think it is getting a little cold in here. So how about we light a little fire?"

With this one of his minions with a burning torch stepped in front of them and looked at Klaus, ready for his orders. "I thought it would have been great if we could start with Bonnie, you know, her being a witched burned on a stake is just so historic. But I want to wait until she wakes up. I would love to see her face in the moment of being burnt. Take the blond one instead."

And then the minion went in the direction of Matt. "No!" Elena screamed. "Leave him alone! You have me! He is of no use to you!" But Klaus didn't even consider replying to her, his eyes fixed on the stake.

The other ones cried as well as Klaus minions were cheering loudly.

"Caroline! Don't let him do that! Remember, Matt hasn't done anything to cross you! He is one of your best friends!" To that she earned an unreadable look from Caroline but she turned her face again as Klaus put a hand around her shoulders and held her close. But Caroline didn't look up upon the stake anymore but fixed her gaze on the ground.

"Stefan!" Elena pleaded in a last attempt. He looked at her as well but his eyes were as clear es ever. And Elena saw him struggling inside of himself. "I know you don't want to do that. You can stop it, you can stop all of it." she told him in a whisper, just loud enough for him to hear.

The minion reached the hay laying under Matt's stake by now and lowered the torch for the contact.

"Stefan, please... Save him." Elena pleaded on. She couldn't watch what was about to happen. Matt was one of her best friends, kind of her first love as well. But what killed her the most was the fact that he was just the first one and the others would follow. She didn't feel sorry for her though. She felt sorry for her friends, mostly even for Caroline and Stefan as they would held those haunting memories for centuries to come, breaking more and more on the inside.

And then it happened. Just as the torch came into contact with the hay and her friends cried in despair Stefan went into motion. Elena couldn't believe her eyes. Stefan moved into the direction of Matt and shortly after that the minion and the torch flew through the room.

"Stefan!" Klaus roared. "What did you do!"

But Stefan just stood there and seemed perplexed as well. He murmured something.

"What did you just say?!" Klaus demanded with rage.

"It wasn't me." Stefan repeated louder this time.

Elena checked his face and found him clearly puzzled. The other ones hadn't moved one little bit. Matt looked like he didn't even breath anymore. Just Jeremy looked at the right corner of the room, a relieved look upon his face.

"What the hell is going on!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Back to Bonnie:<strong>_

Sheila sighed loudly and looked to the ground.

"It is almost time. They are almost there. You have to get back." Emily told her in a kind voice.

"What?" Bonnie more than freaked. Back? But why? Who were almost there? And time for what?"  
>"You will see when the time is right." Emily assured her.<p>

"But no!" Bonnie yelped and turned her gaze on her grandmother again. "Grams, please! I've got so many questions! You said that you will enlighten me into some things but I feel even more confused as ever! And I still don't know how I am able to kill Klaus!"

"You won't kill him, Bonnie." Sheila told her with a stern voice and met Bonnie's eyes again, her eyes equally stern as her voice. "We won't let you do that."  
>"What do you mean?"<p>

"We are family and we will take care of this. You crossed nature's will once already when you brought Jeremy back to live. You are not allowed to do that again. The balance is off and we have to set it right again." Emily told her. And with this she took hold of Bonnie's hand as well. A strange feeling welled up inside of Bonnie as if she would lose control over her body. She could see the other witches circling them and heard them starting to chant something she couldn't understand. Her vision became blurry. And then she saw the face of her grandmother Sheila again which sent her a kind smile.

"It will all play out as it is supposed to by, my dear. And don't worry, I will be right next to you whenever you need me."

"But Grams! What is going on? What am I going to do?" By now it was hard for Bonnie to even concentrate on speaking a full sentence. Something was taking hold of her. She felt it. And she could do nothing against it. And with this thought crossing her mind she felt herself losing consciousness. She was trembling inside, trying to find the searing numbness of which began to cloud her mind. But then the voice of Sheila was as clear in her ears es ever suddenly. "Don't fight it. You know, sometimes oblivion is a state of pure bliss." And then everything went dark.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>_

Chaos was sure to arise as Klaus looked as if he was about to kill all of them in one big stroke. "I have enough of this!" And with that being said he started to go over to Elena, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

And then Bonnie opened her eyes again, a bright light shining out of them.

"Bonnie!" Elena cried clearly startled. "What's going on?" But Bonnie didn't return an answer or even a sign of recognition.

"Oh my God! Vicki, is that you?!" Matt suddenly exclaimed next to Bonnie looking at the left corner. As Elena followed his gaze her eyes landed in fact on none other than than Vicki Donovan and … "Anna?"

"You can see me?" Anna yelped at her.

"Mattie! I'm here! We prevented the vampire from setting the hay on fire! We're here to save you!Everything's going to be fine!" Vicki called out, tears rolling down her face. "I can't believe it! Is it really you?" Matt demanded with a hopeful voice, tears equally falling down his face as with his sister.

"What a reunion we have here! Even ghosts lined my audience! I feel so special!" Klaus remarked sarcastically with a chuckle, standing in the middle of them all. "But it is not like you two could do anything against this. It will take place. They will all die and I will finally get my revenge."

With that he turned his sight on Bonnie. "And not even you with your bright shining eyes can stop me. What now? You are again trying to kill me?" a cruel laugh followed his question. But Bonnie remained motionlessly. She just hung there, her gaze fixed on Klaus, her eyes still shining with this bright light.

"No she is not, brother." another voice chimed in. Almost all of them cast an alarmed look on the entrance where no other than Elijah suddenly walked through.

"Finally! Could you have waited any longer? Let me take a guess! You had to search for the right socks matching your suit and the occasion, right? You are so superficial, Elijah!" Katherine yelled down at him from her stake.

"Well Katerina. Had I known that the image of you tied to a stake would display itself in front of me I would have arrived a little sooner, possibly." he told her in a nonchalant voice.

"Brother!" Klaus shot at him looking clearly shocked. But how..."

"What is it, Niklaus? Baffled that I am no longer in my coffin? Well, let me tell you that it is no hallucination of me standing here in full flesh. And another thing, I am not alone."

With that two other man with dark hair and a woman with long blond hair walked up alongside him.

"Long time, brother." The youngest of them spoke up, his voice laced with detest.

"But... Rebekah!" Klaus stuttered and took a step into their direction.  
>"Don't you dare, Nik! How could you! After all that had happened how could you put me in that coffin for almost a hundred years?" she yelled back at him.<p>

"I have waited a long time for this." The oldest of them told Klaus.

"Finn..." Klaus looked crestfallen by now. "Kill them!" he suddenly yelled out the order to his minions which some of them reacted immediately to and ran to the group. But the attack didn't last long as they were ripped apart by those four almost immediately. Due to that some others even ran from the room, knowing that their chances of winning were close to non-existent. "Caroline! Stefan!" Klaus went on. Caroline shot an uncertain look to Stefan which looked her dead in the eyes, their sapphires glowing. And then Stefan turned back to Klaus. "No." he told them with a stern voice. And suddenly the sapphire, formerly glowing, lost all its shine and even simply broke.

"What? But, Stefan! We can't!" Caroline yelped and was about to ran up to Klaus. But before she could get any far Stefan took hold of her and hold her in a dead-grip to his chest. Struggling Caroline couldn't fight him off as he was much more powerful than her began to cry. Okay, she knew that she would never follow Klaus orders concerning the death of her own mother and she hated him for even setting her up for this but Klaus dead? No! She couldn't let that happen.

"Klaus!" she cried put and searched for his eyes which held an uncertain and even pleading look he shot at her.

Then Elijah looked up at Bonnie again. "We will take it from here. You can go now."

And with that the light shining from Bonnie's eyes became stronger and more powerful. When it subsided the only ones left in the room where Klaus and his siblings, the few left minions were running for safety one by one.

"What? You wanna kill me? Just try it! You won't succeed!" Klaus yelled at them

Elijah took a step forward then. "No brother, we won't kill you. That would be far to easy. On the way over we discussed different methods on taking revenge and I think we have come up with just the right way to do so." He took another step in his direction and by now stood right in front of him, starring him dead in the eyes. "We've found your coffin, brother." he told him, a superior smile upon his face. And with that the sibling stroke their attack on Klaus.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 26<strong>

* * *

><p>Okay, so there will be an epilogue of course. Don't worry. ;)<p>

**Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review! I'll really appreciate it!**

Love & hugs!


	28. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

* * *

><p>It was Friday night and Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy and Tyler were lounging at the boarding house. They were waiting for Caroline as they all decided that a DVD marathon could be a welcomed distraction after all that happened. They were all gathered around lying on the couches, eating popcorn and drinking beer.<p>

„Where the hell is Caroline? She should have been here for at least half an hour!", Tyler started, concern clearly evident in his voice.

„We all know Caroline. Maybe she got held up because she noticed her shoes didn't match her belt or something like that. I'm sure she will be here any minute.", Bonnie assured him. "I called her but she didn't pick up. I left her a message telling her to hurry up. I'm sure she's busy searching for the perfect outfit."

„As sad as it is, that's probably true.", Tyler supported her. „But aside from Caroline, has anybody seen Damon? We are meeting at his place, actually. So, is he gonna be here, too?"

„Actually, it's my place now.", Elena stated as a matter of fact. „But still, no. I haven't heard or seen from him for almost two weeks. Since Stefan...", she trailed off.

"Did somebody actually tell him about tonight?", Jeremy asked.

Silence came up.

"Come on, Care! Where are you?", Tyler exclaimed impatiently.

* * *

><p><strong>Same time at the other end of Mystic Falls:<strong>

She didn't know why she came back here of all places. Maybe because she knew that Klaus was gone. Maybe because she liked the place. But maybe because she didn't know where else to go. After hundreds of years of running and hiding she was sick of it. And here in Mystic Falls was at least a place where she could start a different approach on things. But in order to do that she needed to find Damon although she wasn't really sure that he'd be extremely happy to see her again. But she was on a mission. She needed to get Stefan back.

`_What he'd be doing at the moment?_´, she pondered. Well, that she would find out early enough. First of all, she was hungry. And the Grill would be exactly the right place where she could find something to eat or better say to drink.

Just at this moment the back door opened and someone walked out.

`_Hey, it's Matt. And here, history repeats itself.' _

But in difference to the last time Matt was walking out of the Mystic Grill and walked over to his truck. In fast stripes he crossed the parking-lot and opened his door. After he was seated safely and started his car Katherine relaxed a little.

"Why did she leave me with the memories?", she asked.

"Only time will tell." Lucy told her as she appeared behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Same time at another place of Mystic Falls <strong>

He was almost through the forest as he saw Mystic Falls already appearing like a shimmer of light through some kind of misty fog. In a few seconds he ran out of the woods in an inhuman speed and stopped in the middle of the street directly behind it.

He listened for a while and concentrated on his surroundings. Somewhere distant he caught a voice:

"Yeah, mom. I'm on my way over to Elena now. No, nothing is wrong. No, I don't know when I'll get back. Mom…. Mom… MOM! It's not like I can die or something, you know!" with that Caroline ended the call and went somewhat grumpy along to her car. As it seemed to Damon she was totally obvious to him being there.

He hid behind a few trees alongside the street and watched her movements. As she was about to open the door of her car, he called up to her.

"Caroline…" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. She stopped directly and looked around her. "Damon?"

She took a few steps into the direction she thought she had heard him.

"Damon? Is that you? Come on, this isn't funny! Where are you! Are you alright?"

Damon stepped out of the shadows and onto the street, slowly but steadily walking over to her.

"Damon! It's really you! Where have you been? And why didn't you answer my message I send you this morning?"

But Damon didn't respond. His eyes went blank as there were only a few steps left to cross the space between them.

"Damon? Are you drunk again?" Caroline took a few steps nearer and then suddenly stopped and looked up at him, clearly annoyed. "Come on, what is this? You wanna scare me or what?"

Then Damon spoke to her:

"I told you that I'd kill you...", his eyes dark and his voice leaving a faint growl in the air. His eyes were fixed on her and his whole appearance alarmed Caroline.

"Damon, what..."

"I told you that I'd kill you... if you would ever move around my closet and sneak out with clothes and stuff which you didn't accidentally_ 'borrow and forgot to ask about'_!" he told her, partly mimicking her voice.

"Damon, come on! I've got to prepare the school dance and the topic is the twentieth century! And you have got some really great clothes and jewelry which I absolutely need for my inspiration!" she argued with him. "I'm sorry for not asking about them but sometimes a girl just has gotta do what a girl has gotta do!"

"But that doesn't give you any permission to raid my whole closet and to rearrange it afterward!"

"But it needed some rearrangement pretty badly! There's too much dark in there! I didn't even knew that there would be so many different styles and shades of dark!"

"Can't you two just stop your bickering for at least tonight?" Stefan's annoyed voice came up behind them. "I've put up with this for the last two weeks and I can't take it anymore!"

"I'm clearly not bickering! I'm just stating the facts!" Caroline reasoned.  
>"Stating the facts? Just because something forms itself in that weird little mind of yours it isn't a fact!" Damon threw back.<p>

"Stop it! Now! You both are bickering and truth be told it's as ridiculous as it is annoying by now!" Stefan shot at them.

"You are taking his side?!" Caroline exclaimed shocked.

"Well, at least he knows which one to follow, airhead!" Damon threw in. And so the bickering continued.

Stefan having by far enough took a few steps back and looked up at the night sky. He couldn't help but feel a smile creeping up his face while he tried to mute down the voices of his two companions.

He still couldn't quite understand what had happened in the past few weeks. He seemed to remember a few terrible things than the rest of them. He remembered Klaus and a havoc that had been brought upon this town. He still remembered the fire which burning all around them back in the corridors of Klaus mansion. He still felt pangs of regret when he remembered Elena's and Damon's neglected and devastated looks they had been giving him. But suddenly he closed his eyes as this big light blinded all of them and when he next opened them he was in his bad back in the mansion and nothing seemed to have happen. By now he even wondered if he'd imagined all of it. Nothing seemed out of its place and no one asked questions. On tat morning he walked down to the hall and found Damon crashing on one of their couches. As he awoke he at first looked quite confused but as he looked upon him his face became its usual mask of indifference and he just said "Back so soon, brother?"

Upon trying to talk about things with him, Elena and even Caroline he got the same confused look and no answers at all.

He even considered calling Katherine again as he remembered or at least imagined himself to be on the verge of killing her in that time or dream or whatever.

Katherine... For a moment he allowed himself to dwell on this images running around in his mind when he suddenly caught a certain sense.  
><em>It couldn't be... Could it?<em>

With that in mind he took off towards the source of it and found himself quite speechless as he came face to face with none other than Katherine herself as well as Lucy standing near the Grill.

On instinct Katherine turned to him and their eyes caught. He could clearly see confusion and even a little longing in hers.

With an absolute unusual even shivering voice she spoke "I never thought I'd see you again after being almost burned on a stick."

"What?" he asked her astonished.

"Forget it." she continued. "For a moment I just thought... But … We gotta go. Bye Stefan." And with that she turned to go.

"Wait!" he called after her. "So... So you remember it, too?" With this Katherine came to a sudden halt and Lucy shot him an uncertain look. "So it wasn't a dream? It all happened? But why are we the only one who seem to remember it?"

"That's a question we'd all like an answer to." Lucy said to him. "What do you remember?"

"All of it! Klaus, the attack, the mansion, me even almost killing Katherine..."

"Wrong. You never actually had a good shot at it." Katherine spoke up, still with her back to him. "But don't worry too much about it. You can go back to living your boring little life as if nothing had happened. Isn't that what you wanted? Lucy, we gotta go now." And with that she began to move again. Lucy turned as well and slowly both of them went off into the opposite direction.

Upon watching them leave Stefan willed himself to remember the happenings one last time. He knew he should let it go but there was still one question on his mind he couldn't let go off.

"You said you loved me... Is it true?" he spoke out in a small voice and just knew that she had heard it when he saw her stirring even in the far distance.

"Even if it is, would it mean anything? You have your life with Elena, even just as long as she is alive as she will clearly never turn into a vampire for you. But suit yourself." he could hear her answer thanks to his vampire hearings.

"Thank you. For saving us, me... For all of it..." he continued.

Silence came next. Stefan knew that it was time for him to leave as well and turned to go as he suddenly caught her whispering "For all it's worth, it is true... Will there ever be a time where we could maybe start over?" He could clearly hear the irritation in her voice and after a few moments he had the answer "Only time will tell..."

* * *

><p><strong>The End... For now!<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>My dear readers, I finally ended it. Thank you so much for all the nice reviews along the way! I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do and it was all worth the wait four you!<strong>

**Hugs and kisses,  
>Nick Angel<strong>


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